Lost in the Supermarket
by self proclaimed genius
Summary: Rory runs into an someone from college to discover a new man. Future FinnRory. PDLD
1. Confessions

Title: Lost in the Supermarket

Author: Self Proclaimed Genius

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls. The title comes from a song by The Clash.

AN: Long time reader, first time writer. I hope my first attempt at Gilmore Girls fanfiction doesn't bomb too much, especially with it being with a semi-obscure pairing. SO you need to know a couple things before reading this. It takes place in summer of 2013 (in which the temperatures will reach astronomical highs due to global warming...or not) putting Finn somewhere around 30 (assuming that he's 21-22 now) and Rory around 28. I'm also going to assume that Rory and Logan will eventually get together and eventually break up (this is not from spoilers, just my own speculations). I think that's everything you need to know to understand this. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or any of the characters associated with it.

Chapter One: Confessions

He walked out of the meeting room, and instead of going straight through the door leading to the parking lot, he deterred from his usual route and walked through the glass automatic doors into the brightly lit room filled with books. While he had never been one for libraries, unless there had been a promise of female companionship, he did occasionally read. You know, manuals, newspapers, magazines...that sort of thing.

On this particular Thursday night, he wasn't necessarily looking for a book, but rather something to occupy his mind. He didn't really think he'd find an "occupation" in a public library, but hey, a man can hope. Being a relative stranger to libraries save the few times he had hooked up in the Yale closed stacks, he figured it would be best to head for the fiction section.

After about ten minutes he had looked over all of the books twice, and was currently reading the inside cover of a book entitled "My Two Mommies" that had looked interesting. He put the book back on the shelve and turned towards the door when he heard someone call his name.

"Finn" The voice was questioning and unsure, almost as if she didn't believe that it could be him. It held some familiarity to him, though he couldn't pinpoint where he had heard it. Slowly, he turned around to be met with the person he last expected it to be.

"Rory? Rory Gilmore" If he had been drinking, he would have sworn that he was hallucinating. But no, she was definitely real, and looking better than ever. He added to himself.

"My god Finn, what are you doing in Boston, in a library no less"

"I could ask you the same question, I thought you were gonna be some type of journalist or something."

"Well, plans change I guess. Boston is just where my life led me."

Finn could understand that answer well enough. He had had enough twists in his life for that statement to apply to him as well.

"You know, if I had known you were living in Bean town, I would have looked you up and took you out for a drink or something."

"Well its not too late for that."

"Okay, I'll give you my number, when are you free"

"Well, I was thinking right now."

"That could work for me, let me just check these books out."

He walked with her to the front desk. She placed her books on the counter and handed the librarian her card. This act reminded her of their location and her curiosity again perked.

"So you never answered my question, what in the hell are you doing in the library"

By now she had gotten her books and they were making their way towards the door, and into the parking lot.

"Hi, I'm Finn, and I'm an alcoholic."

Her jaw plummeted to the ground at his confession. "No," she said in a disbelieving tone.

"You really can't believe I'm an alcoholic? I thought you were a journalist, all the clues were there."

"No, I can totally believe it. I mean, sometimes your drinking really worried me in college." He smiled at her admittance as she continued. "What I can't believe is that _you _know you're an alcoholic."

He could see were she was going on that one. Whenever, on the rare occasion, someone would say something about his drinking he would ignore it and throw out a comment about how it was an Australian thing, and everyone would laugh and forget it had ever been said.

"So, your car or mine?" He asked after they had stood on the sidewalk of the parking lot for a few minutes.

"Oh, well, I walked here, so if we're planning on going anywhere more than a couple blocks away, then we'll have to take yours."

"That's fine, its the black SUV over there," he said as he motioned to the SUV parked near the light.

"Very good Finn, you parked in a well lit area! This way you can avoid attackers waiting to sneak up on you unsuspectingly. Its the first thing they teach you in self defense class."

"You're tellin' me. Its a good thing you're here to accompany me or I'd have to prepare to use my keys as a weapon. You see I used all my mace on the guy in that dark parking garage last week."

She laughed as he opened the door for her. Always the gentleman, Rory remembered. Even when completely trashed.

"So, where are we headed?"

"I know this great coffee shop a couple miles from here."

"Aw Finny! You remembered, that's so touching."

"I don't think you would have let me forget. I recall that one time after you spent the night with Logan and you offered to give me all the money in his wallet if I ran out and got you a cup of coffee." At the mention of Logan he looked over and didn't see the wince on her face that he expected at Logan's name. Although their actual relationship had been relatively short-lived, only lasting a few months, the break-up had been messy and painful at least Logan. He could only assume it had been the same for Rory.

"Ah, yes, how naive I was. I should have offered his trust fund too." He was glad at her ability to speak freely of him. A tension that he hadn't known had been there suddenly relaxed.

"Well, I did it for nothing, didn't I?"

"Yes, always the dutiful servant, huh?"

"To a beautiful woman? Yes."

She blushed slightly at the subtle compliment, thankful for the darkness of the car.

"So tell me how you ended up in AA." She inquired and then mentally slapped herself. "I'm sorry, that was incredibly nosy of me. Its none of my business...unless of course you _want _to tell me, in which case I'm all ears."

"It's not nosy at all, I was much more nosy to you in the past. Alcohol was probably a contributing factor to that. Well, after I got arrested for my fifth DUI in six months, the judge sentenced me to rehab. I figured I'd stick it out for a month and then get back to my old habits. But, as corny as it sounds, I really connected with the people there, and three years later, here I am in all my sober glory."

"That's great Finn, I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, Rory."

With that said they pulled into the parking lot.

"Oh, I know this place. I come here sometimes before work."

"You work around here?"

"Right down the street actually."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said with a wink.

"Great," she replied sarcastically. Although she wasn't so sure she'd mind. With that thought, she walked through the door which he held open for her.


	2. Absofuckinglutely

Chapter Two: Absofuckinglutely

"So seriously, what are you doing in Boston" They were now seated at a table in the corner of the coffee house.

"Never one for subtlety, were you Finn? Well, I was offered a job up here reporting for the Globe, granted, it was reporting crap that no one would read, but the pay was decent, and my dad lives up here. So I decided to take the leap and go for it." she explained, going off on a small tangent. "Well, I actually went to New York after Yale, but it didn't really agree with me, so I came to Boston about two years ago when they offered me a job. I'm not enough like Carrie Bradshaw to live in New York I guess."

"I would have pictured you for more of a Charlotte anyway, minus the whole converting to Judaism thing, oh, and the overall spoiled ness. Besides, I could never see you writing a column about sex anyway."

"Oooh, we have a closet Sex and the City fan, alert the press." Rory joked back at him.

"Oh, I'm not in the closet, I admit it completely. And yes, I do realize that I just sounded like I was admitting to being gay" he laughed.

"So if I'm a Charlotte, then who would you be" She questioned, testing his apparent knowledge of all things Sex and the City.

"You mean it's not obvious? Who do I most remind you of?"

"Let's see, Australian, AA, and good looks? I'd go with Smith Jared, with hopefully less of a tendency towards women over forty."

"I'm insulted that you would compare me to a character that didn't even enter the picture until the last season. Although I do agree on the good looks issue."

"So who, pray tell, are you most like?"

"Isn't it painfully obvious? Mr. Big of course, the witty ass hole that we all love and that eventually reforms and gets the girl in the end."

"Interesting, I'll keep that in mind in case I ever run into someone else from college."

A half hour later, Rory was telling Finn about how her former roommate was doing.

"Wait a second, you're telling me Paris inspired a priest to leave the church for her, and then broke up with him a month later"

"It's true, the once Father Gary has now become an accountant and he does kids birthday parties as a clown on weekends, for extra money." Finn laughed along with Rory at this antidote.

"So how are the other two stooges doing?"

"Well, Colin married Stephanie about five years ago. He's working for his father's business, ready to take over the reigns in a couple of years. And Logan as you could probably guess is working for _his_ father. It seems like he never has anytime to hang out though."

"That's great that you're all still friends."

"Yeah, well, we had a little trouble when I told them I was in AA. Colin was really supportive, and he even let me stay with him after I got out of rehab, despite Stephanie's protests. Logan on the other hand, got pretty angry at me when I tried to talk to him about it. I think he felt like I was trying to force AA on him because we drank together a lot in college. But I wasn't even thinking like that, Logan always drank in moderation and hardly ever got drunk. He wouldn't have it."

"Oh, Finn, I'm so sorry to hear that" Rory reached out and placed her hand comfortingly on his arm.

"Well actually, we ended up working it out about six months later, and we're almost back to where we used to be in terms of friendship."

"I'm happy to hear that" Rory said. "So what about you Finn, what have you been doing with your life?"

"Well, sometime after college I managed to get a law degree and I now am the most sought after divorce attorney in the Boston area."

"Wow, so I guess you meet a lot of newly single women huh?"

"Right, but most of my clients seem to be in their forties or older. For some reason I got a reputation with women who are married to rich husbands who are having affairs with younger women. They all think I'm gonna stick it to their husbands and make them pay for what they did.

"And do you?"

"Of course. I aim to please, don't I?"

She laughed at this and casually glanced at her watch. "Oh, wow,look at the time. Its 10 o'clock…And I sound like a seventy year old woman."

"Right, do you need me to take you home" Finn offered.

"That would be terrific."

"Let's get going then." Finn paid the bill and guided Rory towards the exit.

The car ride was mostly silent save the surprising musical choice of Frank Sinatra playing on the stereo, and Rory directing Finn to her home.

They pulled up in front of a two story birck house only a few blocks from the library they had met at earlier. Finn got out of the car and walked Rory to her door.

"Well Rory, I had a wonderful time tonight."

"So did I. You are even better company when you're not drinking."

"Thanks, I aim to please. Let me give you my card, you know for safety reasons."

"Riight safety reasons, I'll buy that." She looked down at the card he handed her. "Phineas? I never saw it coming. So do you have a brother named Gene?"

"Oh God, don't start that Separate Piece shit. When we read that in 9th grade I considered changing my name to something normal like George." He waited a second before continuing. "This would be the time that you gave me you number."

"Oh really now? Well, I guess I can comply just this once." She handed him a buiness card.

"Why thank you darling. You're too kind."

"So" she started hesitantly. "We should do this again sometime."

He contemplated for a second before replying with a smirk "Absofuckinglutely"


	3. Denial Does Not Exist in This Dojo

AN: First of all, I want to thank everyone who reviewed and say that really appreciate it. I was surprised that I didn't get any negative reviews telling me how much I sucked. I was also a little disappointed. I was expecting one, and when I didn't get it I felt kinda let down. Almost to the point that I considered doing something stupid like having Finn progress his undying love for Rory, who would then reveal that she was really a man, which would of course shock Finn but he'd love her so much that he'd see past that. Ahh, true love. Then I decided that plot line was best left for another story. Keep an eye out for it. I'm thinking of calling it "One Tiny Difference, Well not _Tiny_" after a line from "The Birdcage"

I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I finally attempted to write Lorelai, and for the most part, I'm happy about how it turned out. The Chapter title comes from a variation on a Karate Kid quote. And on with the show!

Chapter Three: Denial Does not Exist in This Dojo

When Rory arrived home that night, she couldn't stop thinking about how much Finn had changed. He was ... different to say the least. But she could still see the remnant of the Finn from college. He was more reserved than she remembered him, but she did recall most of her Finn memories featured him with alcohol in his hand. Although she didn't know if his overall change came from sobriety or maturity, but she was liking this new Finn. With that last thought, she drifted off to sleep.

Finn, in his own home, was having similar thoughts to Rory's. As he turned on the TV to watch Letterman, he contemplated how Rory was compared to her old self from college. He always had a small crush on his best friend's girlfriend, but it stayed a crush for that reason. Now she was as beautiful as ever, and Finn felt the attraction more than he ever had at Yale. The problem was, that he had no idea what her current situation was. Although they had discussed why she was in Boston, and his life since he had moved to the area, they never even talked about significant others, or hopefully lack there of. Instead they spent most of their time catching up on what their friends were doing with their lives. Finn could only assume that she wasn't married from the lack of a ring, but that didn't mean she wasn't in a relationship of some kind.

Sighing, he turned off the TV which he had completely ignored and made his way to bed, looking forward to a restless night thinking about Rory Gilmore.

In the morning, Finn rose at 6 am, and went for a run before getting ready for work. He really didn't have to do much that day, so he planned on doing some paper work and heading out after lunch. 'TGIF' he thought sarcastically to himself. Although he, like any other working guy loved the prospect of the weekend, he had never really developed much of a social life since becoming sober. He hadn't even begun dating until a year ago, and even then his dates were usually with women from AA He was afraid of falling into old habits, so unless his attendance was necessary, he had even managed to avoid society gatherings.

As he arrived at his office, he thought back to the previous nights events. He wanted to call Rory up and continue their conversation from the night before but he didn't want to risk seeming too clingy. As he sat down at his desk, the telephone interrupted his thoughts. He decided to let his secretary answer it. It was way to early do deal with a whiney client.

"Mr. McDonald" He heard the intercom on his desk say.

"Yes Rose" He replied to his secretary.

"There's a Rory Gilmore on line two"

"Thanks Rose" Finn took a deep breath before picking up the phone. "Hello"

"Hey Finn, this is Rory."

"Oh hey Rory, I was thinking about calling you"

"Well, I'm flattered, but I needed to ask you something."

"Shoot" he grinned at her slight hesitation.

"Its just a little embarrassing." He was even more eager to learn what she was going to ask now.

"Well, last night, in your car" she began slowly.

"Yes, what about last night" He was already to accept the invitation for a date he was sure she was going to offer.

"Well, I think I might have left my balls in your car."

"Huh?" He asked confused. This was not the invitation he expected.

"Damnit McDonald, give me back my balls" She demanded forcefully.

Suddenly the memory came back to him of the time in her philosophy class when he had told Rory to give Colin and Logan their balls back. He smiled at the thought.

"Oh yes, that was clever wasn't it? That line was my idea too. Logan wanted something boring like shame on you, but I refused to let his lack of creativity limit my performance. Although, I do recall the retaliation was much better than our stunt. If I remember correctly it took Logan about an hour to stop staring at the hallway your grandfather disappeared into. He spent the whole day trying to get a hold of his dad." He chuckled at the memory of his friends face.

"Well that was pretty much the effect I was going for. So anyway, the real reason I called."

"Wait, you mean didn't really leave your balls in my car"

"Anyway, I was calling to see if you wanted to get together today. You're probably working, but I have already finished my article and I have nothing to do for the rest of the day."

"Actually, I was planning on cutting out at lunch anyway. I have no appointments with clients today, and this paper work is mind-numbing."

"So lunch today then"

"Yeah there's this place over on Essex I've been meaning to try. Do you want me to pick you up"

"Yeah that'd be great, do you remember how to find it"

"I wasn't really paying attention last night."

"Oh, that's fine I'll give you directions."

"No need, just give me your address and I'll use On star."

"Ugh I hate those things, they give me the creeps, and somehow cause me to get even more lost than I would have been without it."

"Noted, I'll turn it off before I get to your house. I'll come at 12:30" After giving him her address they hung up and Finn tried to go back to his work in vain, eventually giving up and glancing at the clock. 9:47, and the good times keep on coming. He picked up the phone dialed a familiar number.

"Lorelai's house of love, how may we service you today"

"Hey mom" Rory smiled at her mother's antics.

"What, who is this, it can't be my daughter. I don't have a daughter. I mean, I thought I did for awhile, but I must have been mistaken, because if I had a daughter, she would call more than once every two weeks."

"What? Mom, I just talked to you on Tuesday."

"So what? It sounds more dramatic if I add more time."

"Whatever mom" Rory replied. "So how's life going, how's Luke and the kids"

"Life's good, Luke's good and baby Billy's good too."

"Baby? Mom, Billy's almost 7. He's hardly a baby any more."

"I know, but baby Billy sounds so much better than little kid Billy, don't you think"

"I think that he's six. He doesn't need an epithet added to his name every time you say it. What about Sarah and Jessie"

"They're okay, I think" she said.

"You think? How can you nt know?"

"Well, they hardly make any noise. I swear, if I didn't have very painful memories about their births, I would swear that Luke had bore them and raised them all by himself." The comment caused Rory to laugh on the other end. "So how's life going for you? It's Friday, you got any smokin' plans that involve bubble wrap and peanut butter."

"I think you're confusing me with you mom."

"Oh that's right, it was me that my mother caught with my blond boyfriend in our kitchen about to do unspeakable things with whip cream." She said sarcastically, causing Rory to sigh.

"We never actually got anywhere close to the whip cream part. Logan just grabbed that out of the fridge as a joke."

"Riiight, keep telling yourself that you weren't about to go Varsity Blues on him."

"Mom" Rory squealed. "And to answer your question, no I don't have smokin' plans tonight."

"Oh" Lorelai said softly.

"You sound disappointed"

"Well, I was hopping that maybe you were going on a date or something. Far be it for me to think that maybe my beautiful single daughter was going to enjoy the company of a gentleman caller. How am I supposed to live vicariously through you if you don't have wild encounters with the opposite sex?"

"Well, I don't know about wild encounters, but I am having lunch with a friend from Yale today."

"Oh, who is it? Do I know them"

"Well, you met him at one point"

"Him? Its a male? Why did you fail to mention this before? Oooh, who is it? Marty? Doyle" She said with a chuckle.

"You never met Doyle mom, it's actually a friend of Logan's."

"Oh, who, Colin"

"No, it's Finn McDonald"

"Wait, the Australian one? He told me he was going to go back to Australia to study the Indigenous peoples."

"He was probably drunk at the time right?"

"Well now that you say that, he probably was. Actually, if I remember correctly, he made that comment about twenty minutes before he propositioned Lane right in front of Zach."

"Well, he's actually in AA now.."

"Oh Do they do that 'Hi I'm Finn and I'm an Alcoholic' thing?"

"I don't know actually. I mean I assume they do, but I can't really see Finn doing that. He seemed like he liked it though, and I really think he's changed for the better since college."

"Oooh you _like _him."

"What? No I don't, he's just a friend. I mean, when Logan and I were dating he was always around. I've never even thought about him that way."

"Bull honky! You like him!"

"Bull honky? I don't remember you ever having trouble saying shit when the occasion called for it before."

"Yeah, but Billy just walked in and Luke has this new idea about us not cursing in front of him. Crazy, I know, but I agreed to try it out for a while."

"Luke might be right, if you had at least watched your language a little around me, we could have avoided that incident in kindergarten when I told Sam Goldman his ass looked fat in those jeans."

"Oh, but then I wouldn't have that great story to tell every time I see his mom. But you're avoiding my question. You like him."

"One, that's not a question, and two, I do not!"

"Forever in da Nile. Oh sweet daughter, when will you learn?"

"Okay mom, this is getting me no where. I'm hanging up"

"Fine, but take with you these last words of wisdom."

"Okay, hit me with 'em."

"Strike first, strike hard, no mercy sir!."

"Goodbye mom!"

AN2: The last line from Lorelai is also a line from the Karate Kid. Ahh, so much wisdom from just one movie.


	4. A Friendly Chat

Chapter Four: A Friendly Chat

Finn sat at his desk waiting for someone to pick up. He wished someone in that damn house would answer the phone.

On what seemed like the seventh ring, a breathless voice picked up. "Hello?"

"Hi, who's this?" Finn, familiar with almost everyone who might be answering on the other end was surprised to hear a voice he did not recognize.

"This is Stephanie's sister, Eliza."

"Splendid, then I'll assume you know where Colin is?"

"He's upstairs with my sister, doing God knows what."

"Oh," he said slowly. He was surprised Colin and Steph were still going at it with her being 6 months pregnant and all. "Do you know when they'll be...uh, finished?"

"Well, I'm not sure, but I'll have him call you when they come down. Who can I tell him called"

"Tell him Finn called about...you know what just tell him to call me back as soon as he can."

"Oh, so you're Finn."

"I take it my reputation proceeds me?" He had no idea how Stephanie's sister could know that much about him.

"Well, lets just say, I had many a phone call from Steph complaining about that 'little' stint you stayed here for."

"Ahh," he replied knowingly. The 'little' stint she referred to actually lasted four months until he felt confident enough to live by himself again. "Well, if you could give him the message, that would be great, thanks."

Without waiting for a reply, he hung up, feeling slightly embarrassed that someone other that Colin and Stephanie knew just how vulnerable he was during his time after rehab. He looked to his computer and started a game of solitaire while he waited for Colin to call him back.

An hour, and about 17 failed games later, he picked up the phone after the first ring.

"Man Colin, you sure know how to keep a guy in suspense."

"Well Finn, I knew it was you, and that you were probably waiting by the phone, point proven by the way by your immediate answering, try not to seem so desperate next time, its a real turn off."

"And you would know all about turn offs now wouldn't you?"

"Back to my point, since I knew all about your desperateness, I decided to make you wait."

"You sure you just didn't want to stay in bed with Stephanie? By the way, I wanted to commend you on your studliness. I don't think even I could get my wife to have sex with me while five months pregnant with our third child."

"What can I say, it's a gift. So, why did you feel the need to call me on a Friday morning at 9:30, on a day which you knew I was taking off."

"What? Can't a guy call another guy for a friendly chat?" He asked innocently.

"In today's society? Not really. So seriously, what's the motivation?"

"Well, you'll never guess who I ran into last night after one of my meetings"

"Who?"

"Guess"

"You just said I'd never guess, so why would I attempt to do something seemingly impossible"

"You're seemingly impossible. Okay, I'll give you a hint. We knew her in college."

"We knew a lot of hers in college, you'll have to be more specific than that."

"Fine, Logan knew her very well."

"Again, he knew a lot of people very well. Almost as many as you."

"Not like he knew this girl."

"Oh, duh, you mean Rory. That should have been obvious when you started to make me guess."

"Damn, you ruined my fun, I was gonna make you keep guessing until I unveiled the shocking truth."

"That's actually not that shocking Finn."

He made a confused face, although Colin couldn't see it. "How so, she's not the most obvious person for me to run into after an AA meeting."

"Well, just given those circumstances, no. But you're living in Boston now, and Rory's living in Boston now."

"Wait, how'd you know Rory was in Boston?" He was shocked at this new information.

"Well, Einstein, if you'll recall, Rory and Stephanie became friends during their Senior years. You know, when Steph was left all alone after we graduated."

"She was hardly all alone."

"Not the point I was making Finn. Anyway, she and Rory had a class together and have since kept up with each other. Sometimes they even meet up for shopping trips in the city when Rory's in town visiting her mom."

"Glad to know I'm in the loop."

"In the loop? Since when have you cared about being in the loop about all of Logan's other exes?"

"Never, but the only one I was ever even friendly with was Rory. Besides, it seems like I would have at least heard a little about this when I was staying with you guys."

"Actually, I'm surprised you didn't but back to the story at hand, you ran into Rory."

"Yeah, she was at a library, imagine that. So we chatted a little, and then she asked me for coffee, so we got coffee."

"Interesting, and what did you talk about over coffee?"

"Oh you know, reminisced about old times. Did you know Paris made a man leave the priesthood?"

"I think I heard that somewhere, yes."

"Well, we exchanged numbers and I'm taking her to lunch today."

"Really? I never knew you had a thing for reporter girl."

"I didn't, I don't! Is it such a crime for a man to take out an old college pal in a completely platonic sense?"

"For most people, no, but you...I don't think I've ever known you to do anything involving the opposite gender in the completely platonic sense. Drunk or sober."

"Well I assure you, this is completely platonic. I mean, I don't even know what her relationship status is," he paused for a comment from Colin.

"AHA! That's the reason you called! I feel so used!"

"Well, it wasn't the reason I called, after all, I didn't even know you were still in contact with her, but, now that you mention it."

"I'm not going to tell you. I think it would be much more amusing for you to ask Rory yourself."

"What do you care if it's amusing, you won't be there to hear it."

"Yes, but Rory will, and Rory will at some point tell Stephanie, and then Stephanie will tell me and I'll have a good laugh about it."

"Et tu, Brute? I never thought you'd turn your back on me for your own amusement."

"Nonsense, I've done it millions of times before, what's to stop me now?"

"Okay, as much fun as this has been, I need to get off the phone. Can you just do me a favor Colin?"

"I'm not coming over to wax your back again Finn."

"Haha," he said dryly. "But seriously. Could you not mention this to Logan? At least not yet. I don't want him mad at me again over something stupid."

"See, I knew it wasn't platonic."

"Goodbye Colin," and again without waiting for a reply, hung up the phone ad sat back in his chair.


	5. You Held Your Breath, and the Door For M

AN: You like me, you really like me! I love the reviews. And although I don't have a quota for amount of reviiews until I upload the next chapter, if I did, it would totally be filled. If I knew you all a lot better, and had assurances that you weren't creppy stalkers, and we all lived in the same city, I would totally invite you all to my birthday party! So, with that said, I hope you all like that. Some of the speeches are kind of lengthy, but this stuff needs to be said, and I figured I might as well get all the informative stuff out of the way to make way for the pure insanity to ensue! Yay! I can't wait!

Chapter Five: You Held Your Breath, and the Door For Me

Relieved that it was finally 12:00, and he didn't have to continue killing time, Finn started to shut down his computer and pack up his briefcase, slightly relieved that he wouldn't have to see his desk for two days. He looked at the clock, 12:06. If he walked slowly, and took time in his car, he could arrive right on time. Her house wasn't too far from his office, but he didn't want to seem too eager by arriving early, so he took his time leaving, thanking God that he didn't wear a suit that day, and had instead opted for a pair of dress pants and a polo because of the heat and lack of appointments that day.

Meanwhile at casa de Rory, she was rushing frantically to dry her hair and apply makeup before Finn arrived. She glanced at the clock, it read 12:19. 'Shit,' only eleven minutes to pick out an outfit. She quickly opted for a skirt and a blouse because of the heat outside. She made her way downstairs with three minutes to spare. 'I am the master' she thought to herself. She didn't know why she was worrying so much about what she wore, anyway. It was just Finn. Just a friend from college. An extremely sexy friend from college, she added to herself. Before she could drive herself crazy over why she cared so much about her appearance, the doorbell rang. She looked at the clock, which had just turned 12:30 exactly.

"Well Finn, of all the was I remember you from college, punctual was definitely not one of them."

"I'm much older and wiser now. I know better than to keep a pretty lady waiting."

Rory laughed at him but did not miss the sincere look on his face when he complimented her. "Ever the charmer. Would you like to come in?"

Finn, curious about her home, accepted the invitation and entered the foyer. It was covered in family pictures.

Finn looked around at them and saw children featured in all of the ones featuring a more adult Rory. "I didn't know there were so many kids in your family. Nieces and Nephews?" He hoped his questioning was subtle.

"Well," she moved to stand beside him and gestured to the pictures. "Those three are my half brother and sisters from my mom's side."

"Wow, they're so young."

"Well, you forget that my mother had me when she was 16, and just got remarried eight years ago."

"Oh yes, that was probably one of the best receptions I've ever been to. I still don't know why I was invited, I didn't even know your mother."

"Yeah, but I told her about your 'Passion of the Christ' and she was dying to meet you. But I digress. This one there," she gestured to a picture of Gigi on her last birthday, "is my half sister on my dad's side. They live here in Boston, just a few blocks away."

"And this one here?" He asked pointing to a picture of Rory holding a dark haired boy who looked about two when the picture was taken.

"That," she started hesitantly. "That's my son Ernest."

His head whipped around to face her, causing their eyes to meet. Upon finding a questioning look on his face she embellished, "I had him when I was 24, while I was living in New York."

"Wow," was all he could think to say. Colin hadn't mentioned her having a kid. "You do not look like a woman who's had a baby."

"Thanks Finn. I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"You should. Now back to the subject. Where's Ernest now? I'd love to meet him."

"Well, he's staying with his father in New York right now. We technically have joint custody, but Ernest's going to be going to school here, so his dad will be getting him during the summer."

"What a shame, some other time I suppose. We should get going, I made the reservation for 1:00."

"Ooh a reservation. Fancy." Rory said as they made their way to the car.

As Finn started the engine, Alanis Morrissette started to play. Rory couldn't believe it. "Finn! A chick rocker? I'm so proud of you. Sinatra last night Alanis today, what's next, the Clash?"

Finn smiled with a knowing look in his eyes as he began to speak. "You know Rory, you and I aren't so different."

"How's that?" she asked, curious to know where he was headed.

"Well, you have a child with whom you share custody with and I have a son who"

Rory interrupted him, "You have a son?"

"Is that so hard to believe, I am a man, and obviously my parts work, as about half the female population at Yale could have told you."

"You do not look like a man who's had a baby," was all she could think to say.

"Whatever that was intended as, I'll take it as a compliment," he laughed and continued his explanation. "I was 22, drunk, horny, and without a condom. So nine months later, Charlie was born."

"So do you see him much?" Now throwing subtlety out the window Rory questioned him directly.

"Actually, I see him every other week now. The reason I took the job in Boston was because by living in Hartford, I would have only gotten to see him in the summer. Now we have joint custody. I wanted him to know who I was, and not be just a guy he spends a month out of the year with."

He did seem truly happy with being a father. Although she never would have imagined it, she guessed fatherhood was good for him. They pulled up to the restaurant not a second later.

He went around the car and opened the door for her with a over-zealous bow.

Rory tried to swoon, but it ended up looking like she was having a seizure.

"You should probably work on that swoon before you try it in public again."

"We all can't be as talented as you Finn."

The waiter came up and they ordered drinks, Finn ordered water and Rory ordered a Dr. Pepper.

"You can drink alcohol around me you know," he didn't like when people purposely avoided drinking in his presence.

"No, I actually don't drink much anymore. I let it behind with my rebellious college years."

"The most rebellious thing you did in college was jump off that tower at the Brigade event."

"Hey! That was scary, and besides that was not the most rebellious I did."

"Ooh please share."

"Once, I told Paris to go shove it up her ass!"

Finn laughed at this remark, but did not protest, as he had learned Paris' wrath on his own.

"So, can I ask a personal question?" Finn asked her.

"If I say no, would it stop you?"

"No, but it's polite to ask. How did Ernest happen?"

"I thought you of all people would know how babies were made." Finn chuckled as she continued. "I'll tell you what, how about you tell me what you do know, and then I'll fill in all the details?"

"Well, I don't understand this concept of where the"

"Stop right there Finn, I really don't know want to know where you're going with that."

"Fine, I'll save you your innocence. But you still haven't answered my question. After college you seemed like the least likely person I knew to have a baby two years later, what happened?"

"Well, like I said last night, I went to New York to test the waters. Inevitably I ran into my ex-boyfriend Jess. Jess was the reason Dean and I broke up the first time. He was a bad boy, I thought I could change him. It turned out, I was wrong. Then when I met up with him in New York, he just seemed so...different. But in a good way. All the qualities I had loved him for were there, but there was also this new...responsibility. So we started to hang out, which eventually led to a reprisal of our old relationship. After about a month we realized that it just wasn't there anymore, so we decided to be friends. Which by the way, is the only relationship where the "I hope we can still be friends" line actually worked. So anyway, a couple weeks later I found out I was pregnant. We moved in together and Jess and I worked through the pregnancy together. It's a regular lifetime movie now that I think about it."

"So if you guys were so happy, why'd you move to Boston?'

"I was getting there."

"Oh, by all means continue."

"So, as I was saying, we were living together. Jess was working in a bookstore and I was writing for this little independent paper and Ernest was about 18 months, and then I got my job offer to write for a real paper, Jess wouldn't let me turn it down.

"He sounds like a really good guy."

"Oh, sure he is _now._ He didn't come like that, he had to have his whole finding himself phase. So now you got the goods on me and my illegitimate child. Tell me about yours."

"Well, I was a first year law student, drunk, and I had just met a red head named Cindy at a party. She didn't even tell me she was pregnant afterwards though. I didn't find out until two years later. I started to pay child support, and see him occasionally. After I passed the bar and then got the fateful DUI a few months later, I kind of reevaluated my life. I realized that I couldn't go on like I was with my self destructive behavior. So, I stayed with Colin for four months, secured a job up here, where Cindy and Charlie were, and then moved here and started my new life as a lawyer and a father."

"Okay, I take it back. If mines a lifetime movie then yours definitely earns the title of Hallmark Hall of Fame movie of the week."

"But you didn't even here the part about the dog with the broken leg named Skippy."

She laughed but then stopped when she saw his expression. "That was a joke right?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He said with a glint in his eye.

By this time their food had arrived and they turned their attention to their respective meals.

When the food arrived, Finn reached for the bill.

Rory quickly protested, "Finn, I already let you buy me coffee last night, let me take care of this one."

"Rory, you and I both know that I love a good excuse to spend money. It's no trouble. And the coffee was nothing."

She gave up with the comment, "Fine, but I'm paying next time."

Finn smiled at the unintentional promise of a next time, and though he knew he wouldn't let her pay then either, he answered her, "Fine."

They made their way out of the restaurant, neither one looking forward to the date's end. Finn was struck with an idea.

"What are you doing tonight?"

"You want a good answer or the sad pathetic truth?"

"Your sad pathetic truth can't be worse than my plans of sitting on the couch and ordering pizza while looking for a movie on TV. The sadist part is, I probably won't find a movie, and I'll end up watching reruns of Fear Factor, until getting bored and going to bed at 10."

"Trade the pizza for Chinese, and you pretty much have my plans. Oh, except minus the Fear Factor, I hate Joe Rogan."

He laughed. "I propose we combine our potentially boring as hell nights into one fabulous social event."

"I can do that, I'll even take it one step further and turn it into a Gilmore Girls patented movie night. We can watch a selection of old favorites. You bring the JuJu Beans, I'll bring the Red Vines."

"I agree, how about my place? I have an excellent sound system set up in the basement. It'll knock you over."

"Okay, let's do it. As long as we order Chinese instead of pizza."

"Fine by me"

"I'll get the movies, and come over around 7:00?"

"Seven's fine. I'll give you directions when we get to your house."

They pulled up to Rory's house and Finn gave Rory directions to his house, only to discover she knew exactly where it was.

"So I'll see you a seven then, she said as he again opened the car door for her and walked her up it her porch."

"I'll be waiting with bated breath," and with that, turned and returned to his car, leaving Rory on her porch to watch his retreating figure.


	6. The Few and the Proud

Chapter Six: The Few and the Proud

AN: I'm feeling preety confident about how this story is going. I actually like this chapter, which is hopefully a good thing. Thank you to all my reviewers. I really love hearing that you guys love this. I know that the last chapter was a little surprising, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to make them both have kids. But it gives them another thing in common, making this relationship a little more likely. Hope you all like this next chapter, I think it's my longest to date.

Rory pulled up to Finn's house at 6:57. She glanced over her makeup one last time and slowly walked up the stoop to the door, while she took in her surroundings. The front porch was small, and it contained only the welcome mat that she was currently standing on. The small front yard was well-kept, but not over done. The door was green, with a brass door knocker on the front. She hesitated to knock for a couple of seconds, during which the door flew open.

"Rory, there you are. You're late."

Rory looked at him quizzically, and then looked at her watch. "Finn, it's seven oh one. It just turned seven oh one. Which means, that thirty seconds ago, when you let me in, it was seven o'clock."

"No, it was seven o'clock and thirty seconds. What have I told you time and time again about being on time?"

"Nothing as of yet, but I've the feeling that that's about to change."

"Right you are. Here are my words of wisdom." He pondered for a moment. "Time is valuable, time is money. And never keep a hungry Australian waiting!"

"I'll remember that. So I got the movies."

"Excellent, because I just so happen to have brought the TV. It's downstairs, I'll show you." They made their way down the hall leading to the kitchen, where Rory paused to take in the scenery. The room was nice, but not large. The fridge was covered with letter magnets, pictures of various people, and artwork that was unmistakably that of a 5 year-old. Rory walked over to the fridge and looked at a picture of the dark haired boy holding a dog.

Finn walked up behind her. "That's Boomer."

Rory looked at him questioningly. "Boomer? I thought his name was Charlie."

"What? I was talking about the dog."

"Oh, right, the dog. Who would name their kid Boomer anyway?"

"It was my first choice, but Cindy wanted Charlie. That was really the only reason we got the dog."

"Riight. I had a similar situation with Jess. He wanted to name our son Ernest, as in Hemmingway. But I wanted to name him after my Grandpa Richard. He used the argument that he would get called Dick, so I caved."

"He's right though. It's parental suicide to name your kid Richard and not expect him to get made fun of." They both stared at the ground for a minute before Finn spoke again. "Well, let's get on with the evening, shall we?"

"OK, for food. I propose we take on the entire chicken column."

"The entire chicken column? That's preposterous! I've already ordered the entire menu!"

"What? Now that is preposterous."

"Well I didn't know what you liked, so I got everything."

"That might just be the sweetest, stupidest thing anyone has ever done for me."

"Well, appreciate it, because thanks to you I'll be feeding Charlie Moo Shoo Pork for the next week."

"Oh believe me, I do. So when is the ETA for the food?"

"I ordered it about 15 minutes ago, and they said it'd take about an hour."

"So an hour and a half then?"

"What? That's not right. An hour minus 15, that's 45."

"Right, but you can never trust the delivery time the guy on the phone gives you, which means we have and hour and 15 minutes, maybe an hour and a half for it to get here. Therefore, we need snacks!"

"Alright, I'll grab those. Why don't you head on downstairs?"

Rory went though the door that he gestured to. The stairs were carpeted with standard beige carpeting and the walls were white. When she turned the corner from the stairs, however, she was greeted with an entirely different scene. She saw a wall that was completely covered with a screen for the projector which was attached to the ceiling. The walls were covered with movie posters, ranging from Casablanca to Ferris Buehler's Day Off. She walked over to the leather sectional and collapsed into it. She gave out a contented sigh as she lay there.

"So I take it you like?"

She was slightly startled to hear Finn's voice behind her. She turner around to face him before speaking, "More like love. I think I could just live down here for awhile. Come get me next spring."

"Well, you're welcome to stay, but I do have to warn you that almost daily Charlie comes down here and watches Teletubies and or Barney."

"Thank God I never let Ernest see any of that crap. We stuck with the wholesome shows. You know, Sesame Street, Arthur, that kind of thing."

"Right. So what movies did you bring?"

"Well…for your viewing pleasure…and you should feel special, because I don't do this for everyone…I have organized the night into a theme."

"Ooh, is it Schwarzenegger's Greatest?"

"Yeah right. The theme is Australia!"

"Aww, how sweet, movies to remind me of the homeland."

"So first up we have the Mary Kate and Ashley classic, Our Lips are Sealed."

"What does that have to do with Australia?"

"If you knew ANYthing about your homeland, then you would know that it's the movie that put Australia on the map."

"God, I hope you're joking."

She ignored his comment as she continued. "Next we have Crocodile Dundee. The original, not the sequel. And finally, and I must admit, I've outdone myself, we have the coming of age story to end all coming of age stories."

"Thirteen?"

"No, but good guess. It's Babe."

"Yes! How did I get so lucky? An evening with talking pigs and the Olsen twins! And of course my favorite brunette reporter." Rory blushed just slightly.

"So what first?"

"I'm thinking we get the worst over with and do the Olsen movie."

She handed it to him and he put it into the DVD player. Then he took a seat on the couch next to her, careful to leave a safe, platonic distance, between them.

"So have you actually seen this movie before?"

"No, but the look on your face when I talked about it was priceless."

They began watching the movie, while making jokes every few minutes. The doorbell rang about an hour into it.

"I'll go get that."

He paused the movie and then got up. Rory watched his retreating figure for a second before he spoke again. "I know you're checking out my ass Rory."

She stifled her giggles into a pillow. A minute later he came down the stairs with five bags of food. She laughed at the sight of him.

"So how much do I owe you?"

"Huh? For what?

"The food. How much was it?"

"You don't owe me anything Rory. It's my treat."

"No, it was your treat last night, and this afternoon. Let me pick this one up. How much was it."

"Fifty cents."

"Be serious Finn."

"I am being serious. You really don't have to worry about that. Save your money. You have a kid for Christ's sake!"

"So do you Finn. I don't want you to feel like you have to pay the bill all the time. I can afford it."

"Rory, just let me have this one, please? It makes me feel good to spend money on other people. I'm one of those guys who buys his way into people's hearts."

"So you're trying to get into my heart?"

"Maybe," he answered truthfully.

Rory was surprised with his answer and wasn't ready with a retort. Instead she turned towards the screen and suggested they start eating and turn the movie back on.

Finn obliged and sat back down on the couch, still leaving a gap, but making it smaller than before. They ate as they watched the movie's thrilling conclusion, but with less conversation than before. They both probably would have blamed it on the fact that they were eating, but it was really because neither knew what to say after Finn's confession.

After the movie ended, Finn spoke first. "I think we should forego the next two movies in favor of one from my personal collection."

"I agree. That one just made me want to boycott all things Australian for life. Except you of course Finn."

"Of course." He got up and opened a large cabinet of the wall that had seemed like it wasn't there except for the handles. It was filled with movies. Rory was amazed.

"Where do we start?"

"Pick one."

She browsed for a minute before finding one that suited her needs.

"What is it?" He asked referring to the movie she clutched to her chest.

"Clueless! I can't believe you own this!"

"What sane person doesn't? Besides, that movie holds sentimental value."

"Oh, please enlighten me," she said, as Finn came back to sit on the couch. The gap he left was smaller than ever now, and their hips were almost touching.

"This was the fist movie I made out with a girl in."

She burst into laughter. "Are you joking? Who makes out during Clueless?"

"Me! And Kelly Landcaster."

"That might be one of the funniest things I've ever heard."

"Hey! Don't knock it till you've tried it. And believe me, I'd be a wiling participant."

"Not today, but thanks for the offer. Start the movie already, would ya?"

"Don't get snappy now." He pressed play and the two quickly began quoting their favorite lines. About halfway through the movie, Finn employed an old standby. He pretended to yawn and brought his arm around Rory's shoulders. This did not go unnoticed by Rory as he had hoped, however. She grabbed the remote and hit pause.

"Did you just use the yawn and stretch?" She tried to suppress her growing laughter.

"The what and what?" He figured ignorance would be the best route.

"Oh, you know what. I haven't been yawned and stretched since junior year, of HIGH school."

"Well, since I don't know what you're talking about…"

"You know."

"Fine, I know. But it totally ruins the whole thing if you acknowledge the yawn and stretch."

"You didn't have to pull the yawn and stretch Finn. We're adults; you don't have to look for an excuse to touch me. You could just do it."

"Oh I could, could I?"

"Yes." It was at this moment that she noticed the proximity of their faces to each other. And the fact that Finn's was approaching. She threw caution to the wind and closed her eyes and began to lean towards him. They up met somewhere in the middle, and shared one of the most passionate kisses that either of them had participated in for awhile. Finn slowly began to ease Rory's back onto the couch as he moved over her. They broke apart for air about a minute later, and Finn rested his forehead against Rory's. He spoke first.

"You have no idea how many times I've wanted to do that."

"How many times could you have thought about it since yesterday?"

He rolled over to lie beside Rory on the wide couch before speaking again, "I was including all the times when you and Logan were together.

She was shocked at this news. "Finn, I had no idea."

"You weren't supposed to. I wasn't supposed to be having those thoughts about my best friend's girlfriend, and then ex-girlfriend. It's just not right."

"Well you know," she said as she eased over so she was partially on top of him. "I'm pretty sure there's a statute of limitations of those things."

He caught her flow. "Oh really?"

"Yes. And I'm surprised you didn't already know about this, you know, being a lawyer and all."

"Uh huh, and how long is ours?"

At this point their faces were inches away from each other. "Long enough that it expired a couple of years ago."

With that they again met in a kiss, this time less urgent than before. When Finn ran his tongue along her bottom lip, she gladly obliged him with entry. At some point during their make-out session, the movie automatically restarted, although neither of them noticed. It was only after about fifteen minutes when they had both stopped to catch their breaths that Rory realized what had happened.

As she lay with her head on Finn's chest she let out a laugh. He too turned his head toward the screen and caught on.

"Well Rory Gilmore, you should be very pleased."

"And just why is that?"

"You have just joined the ranks of the few and the proud of people who have made out during Clueless. I welcome you."

AN: I'd really appreciate feeback. I didn't know how well this all went together. Plus, I want to hear how my love scene went. I'm not good at writing it. So, if you've got time, please drop me a note in the form of a review.


	7. Because One Just Isn't Enough

AN: Sorry its been so long, but I've been a little busy. But to make up for it, I made this chapter with an extra touch of love (or I'm just tellin you that to voke an "awww" reaction.) So I hope you all enjoy this for the hours I slaved away over it. Oh, thanks to all my wonderful reviewers, and to the people who don't review, because I don't balme you. Sometimes reviewing is a pain in the butt. Anyway, on with the story!

Chapter Seven: Because One Just Isn't Enough

The night ended with the Daily Show, an old rerun of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and one long goodbye kiss. Finn promised to call Rory the next day, assuring that the next day did not really mean next Wednesday. Rory returned to her home and collapsed into her bed, falling asleep almost instantly. At his own home, Finn too went straight up to bed, but he could not manage to sleep. He stayed up for at least another hour thinking not just about his and Rory's night together, but also about how Logan would react to the news. He figured he would keep it on the DL for awhile, until there was news to tell him. With that last thought easing his nerves, he drifted off to sleep.

The next day Finn called as promised and they made plans to spend that night together. This time Finn was picking Rory up and taking her out for dinner.

That night he arrived promptly on time on Rory's doorstep, and led her out to his car. Rory commented on the change.

"This isn't the car you were driving yesterday."

"Good observation. You'll be a reporter yet."

"So did you buy a new car…?"

"No."

"Did you borrow a car?"

"No, this is mine."

"So you own two cars?" Although she was questioning him, it sounded more like a statement.

"Of course, silly." He answered her as if it were obvious. "Although, you'd be surprised at how hard it was for me to restrain myself from buying another one."

"And you just have two cars for yourself?"

"Hey, my motto is, if you've got it, flaunt it."

"To be truthful, I never thought I'd see you driving a sedan."

"Ah ah ah, not just any Sedan, a Cadillac."

"Now it all makes more sense."

"As it should. So how was your day?"

"Pretty boring. I went to the supermarket, did a little reading, then I cleaned the house."

"How domestic. I slept in late, went to an AA meeting this afternoon, and washed the Caddy."

"You did it yourself? Now that's extremely domestic of you."

"I don't think of it as a chore, more as an act expressing my love for it."

"Uh huh," Rory replied disbelievingly.

"If you're lucky, I might offer to wash you."

Rory laughed and blushed at his comment before changing the subject. "So where are you taking me?"

"Back to your place, but I figured I'd feed you first."

"How considerate of you."

It was at this point that they pulled up to a parking lot of a restaurant. As they walked into the building, it became more obvious to Rory that it was a Vietnamese restaurant.

As the hostess show them to their table, Finn whispered into Rory's ear, "I bring people here to make me look trendy. Is it working?"

When they were seated Rory answered him. "Finn, Vietnamese is so five years ago. We've moved on to new third world countries."

"I'll have to consult my cultural latache. I feel so behind the times."

"And who's your cultural latache?"

"Colin of course, who else?"

"No wonder you're behind then. Colin has horrible knowledge of culture."

"That reminds me. I gave my dear old friend a call the other day."

"Oh did you? And how is the old son of a gun?"

"Oh he's splendid. I told him that I ran into you, and he wasn't the least bit surprised that you were in Boston."

"Well he wouldn't be, would he? I've been friends with Stephanie since our senior year."

"So he told me. I was just surprised is all. I mean, I didn't see you at their wedding."

"I wasn't there. That was during my pregnancy. The doctor didn't want me traveling so close to my due date."

"Too bad you missed it. I really cut a rug with Stephanie's mom." It was then that their food came. They ate in relative silence, and this time when Finn picked up the bill, there was no protest. They exited the restaurant and got back into Finn's car.

They left the restaurant, and Finn treated her to ice cream, before taking her home. They decided to call it a night early since Finn had to go pick up Charlie the next day. He walked her up to the door to bid her goodnight.

"Well, Finn, here we are again."

"Ah, yes, sadly we must part ways."

He leaned in slowly to kiss her and she met him half way. After a minute he deepened the kiss and soon he had Rory pushed up against her front door when she stopped him.

"Finn, what are my neighbors gonna think?"

"That you're about to get lucky."

"You have to get up early tomorrow, remember?"

"Why do you have to be so responsible. I want to be stupid and irresponsible."

"Finn, you have to get up early to pick up your son tomorrow, remember? We'll do this another time," she paused for a second. "I promise."

He perked up at this. "Was that a promise for a hook up with me? I think I can leave happy now."

She realized what she had just implied, but didn't feel much embarrassment about it. She did have a kid after all. And they were adults. It was natural. Suddenly Finn interrupted her thoughts.

"Rory? I know the prospect is very enticing, but its really better manners to wait until after I leave until you fantasize about our soon to be wild sexcapades."

She blushed slightly before responding. "You're right Finn. You better get out of here so I can have wild fantasies about bubble wrap and peanut butter." She thought back to what her mother said the day before.

"Rory Gilmore, closest fetish freak. Well, I really must go, but you can bet I'll call you soon so we can schedule a designated bubble wrap time." He kissed her once more before walking down the porch steps to his waiting car.

Rory opened her door and closed it behind her before leaning back against it and releasing a content sigh.

"Colin?"

"Finn? What the fuck man, its one thirty in the fucking morning."

"Watch the language _Dad_, what if one of your kids were to hear you."

"You make a good point Finn," he said sarcastically. "There is an _extreme _likelihood that one of my children under the age of _four_ is going to be awake at one thirty in the morning, and walking into my bedroom to hear me say fuck."

On the other end, Finn could hear Stephanie yelling at Colin. "Is that Finn? Tell him _some_ people want to sleep at night, and that _some_ people spent the _entire_ day at the zoo with their two kids that had been fed huge amounts of sugar by their idiot _father_."

"Yes dear," he said to his wife. He then spoke into the phone, "get that dumb ass?"

"You don't understand Colin, we need to talk. Can't you just leave the room?"

"Finn, you have no idea how long it took me to fall asleep, and now all I want to do is go back to sleep."

"You can, after you talk to me about this. Do it for an old pal."

Colin began to get out of his bed and made his way downstairs with the cordless phone. "It's your fault if I'm cranky tomorrow and me and Steph get into a fight because of it."

"Yeah, whatever. Listen I think I have a problem."

"You think? What the hell does that mean?"

"I think I'm dating Rory Gilmore."

"I knew it!" He shouted before realizes the time of night and correcting his volume. "I _knew_ something was up when you called me to talk about her."

"Okay, so you knew it. So now what do I do about it?"

"Well, I'm a little out of practice with these things, but I find it best that when you're dating a girl you should take her out on dates…" Colin's obvious annoyance at being waken up for something so minimal showed through in his words.

"But what do I do about Logan. Isn't this violating the best friend code or something?"

"Generally, I'd say yes. Considering that was almost ten years ago though, I think it's kind of irrelevant that Logan went out with her."

"But it's still one of my best friend's girl friends that I'm dating. That's got to go against some kind of rule."

"Logan probably doesn't even care. I'll tell you what. How about you call him in the middle of the night to see what he thinks?"

"Oh come on Colin, you know you love being up to date on all this juicy gossip."

"Oh how true you are," he said sarcastically. "So what was the event that sparked this call. And how do you go from 'going out to lunch' yesterday to 'maybe dating' today?"

"Well, we had such a good time at lunch yesterday, and we both had nothing to do last night, so we decided to hang out. She came over, we ordered Chinese and watched a few movies. And then, during Clueless, it happened again."

"You're joking. That would not work on a grown woman twenty years later."

"Well, the funny thing is, I told her about how it was my first make-out movie, and she laughed and said she'd never've done that. Then, stuff happened, and the next thing I know, we're making out on the couch and Clueless is on the TV."

"Well, if that's not irony, I don't know what is."

"Yeah, so then tonight,"

Colin interrupted him, "you went out tonight too? So you've officially spent the last three nights in a row with her."  
"So what?"

"That's extremely weird."

"How so?"

"Exhibit A, my friend, the Phineas McDonald theory of dating. If I remember correctly, it sighted that you should never spend both weekend nights with a girl unless you're a confirmed item. You even went as far as to endorse, nay, encourage going out with another girl on the other night, just to, and I quote, 'drive the first one wild.'"

"I can't believe that's your evidence. This is why you would never have been a good lawyer. If you'll recall, as I'm sure that excellent, elephant-like memory of yours will, I explained that theory to you when I was a sophomore in high school."

"And you lived by it all through high school. And college. And I'm pretty sure you did it during law school too."

"I can't have this discussion any more, I'm going to bed."

"You're the one that woke me up, I was just trying to punish you accordingly."

"I'll call you later Colin. Grab Steph's ass for me, would ya?"

"Only if you grab Gilmore's boob for me."

"Will do, buddy. See ya."

"Mom?"

"Hey Rory. Why are you awake at nine am on a Sunday?"

"Better question, what are you doing awake at nine am on a Sunday"

"Making breakfast."

"So you're unwrapping the Poptarts and arranging them nicely on a plate?"

"No, I'm making breakfast for real. Or helping to make breakfast."

"Oh, so you're stirring something uselessly while Luke does all the real work?"

"Well, now that you put it that way I'm not really helping. Spectating would be a better world."

"Aha. So how are things?"

"Hunky Dory. Ooh! How was that lunch thing. I meant to call yesterday to ask all about it."

"It was good," she said almost to herself as a grin spread across her face.

"I can hear that dopey grin Rory. I want details!"

Rory proceeded to explain the last two day's events to Lorelai in detail. At the end of it all, Lorelai was pretty shocked.

"So you made out with him on the first date? Isn't that a little faster thanyour normal speed?"

"It was only technically a first date. We knew each other in college, we had coffee on Thursday, and had lunch Friday afternoon. So really it was more like a second or third date."

Lorelai, thought for a second and decided to humor her daughter. "You know what Rory, I'll give it to you. Although your reasoning would not hold up in a court of law. I think the real reason for the fast paced smooching was because you've suppressed a crush on Finn ever since you first laid eyes on him, and now, eight years later, when you finally got the chance to fulfill your fantasy, you seized the opportunity.

"Or we just got a little carried away."

"I like my reason better." Over the line Rory could hear something big drop and Luke's unmistakable yelp on the other end that was very similar to his 'head in the oven' bit. "Oh, I think Luke dropped something on his foot."

"Oh, you better go help him."

"Yeah right, I'm talking to my estranged daughter."

"Mom! Go help your husband."

"Fine you bully. Call me as soon as something new develops with the Australian."

"His name is Finn."

"But the Australian is much more akin to Sex and the City. Like the Russian."

"But they didn't end up together in the end."

"So you're thinking about ending up with the Australian, huh?"

"Mom! We've only been on two real dates. It's definitely too early for even you to mention that."

"Fine, I'll save the wedding plans till the next time you visit. Which reminds me, when are you coming?"

"Jess and I were talking about meeting there at the end of summer festival to hand off Ernest. He likes to pretend he doesn't like it, but secretly he loves it. Weren't you supposed to be helping Luke?"

"Oh, yeah, he's probably fine by now." As soon as she said that there was another thud followed be a yelp from the other end. "Or maybe I should go help him."

"Yeah, I'll talk to you later mom."

"Love ya, babe."


	8. The Beat Goes On

AN: Hello ALL! I know that it's been way too long for an update, but I've been incredibly busy the last couple of weeks. I really don't know if anyone cares that it's been so long, but I'm gonna tell myself that you were all pining for my latest installment. Not that you all don't have lives, but in my world you live to adore me, or hate me.

I hope you like this Chapter, it's partially filler at first, but then it becomes an actual chapter. Feedback is much appreciated. So, without further ado, Peace Out.

Chapter Eight: The Beat Goes On

Over the next week, Rory and Finn had frequent phone calls to each other, but both were too busy to have a real date. They did, however, get together for lunch twice during the week. Rory was working on a new feature for the paper and Finn was working on new cases and taking care of Charlie. It wasn't until the next Friday night that they both had time to get together for dinner. Finn was making dinner for Rory and Charlie at his place. Rory was nervous about making a good impression on his son, which Finn thought was ridiculous, saying that if she could win over one McDonald man with her charm, the rest would fall at her feet.

Rory arrived at his house right on time, and knocked on the door. She had been envisioning this meeting ever since they had made plans on Tuesday. She heard running footsteps. The door opened to reveal a miniature version of Finn, he smiled to reveal his front teeth missing.

"Hello!" He said enthusiastically. 'The looks and personality of his father', Rory thought to herself.

"Well hi there, you must be Boomer."

Charlie giggled. "Nooo! I'm Charlie."

"Oh, excuse me Charlie. I could have sworn you were the dog."

Finn came into the foyer just then, "With the way he eats, I could swear he was a dog too."

"Hey Finn."

"Hello gorgeous." He leaned in and kissed her. Charlie covered his eyes and made the mandatory noises five-year-olds made when adults kissed.

Finn pulled away to make the introductions. "Charlie, this is Rory. Rory, this is my son, Charlie."

Rory reached out to shake his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Charlie."

Charlie giggled and shook her hand back.

"Charlie, why don't you show Rory your room?"

He gladly obliged and led Rory to his second floor room. It was generally neat, with blue walls and a green comforter. Finn called up the stairs that dinner was ready, and the two went down the stairs and into the dining room.

As they ate, Rory tried to get to know Charlie better. After all, she knew he was an important part of Finn's life, as she knew how important Ernest was to her.

"You know Charlie, I have a son about a year younger than you."

He got excited when he heard that. "Really? Where is he?"

"Well, right now, he's in New York with his dad, but he'll be home in about three weeks. I'm sure he'd love to meet you."

Finn piped in, "We could set up a play-date."

Rory couldn't tell if he was joking or serious with his comment. If he was serious, then this was a really new side the Finn that she was seeing. They had ice cream for dessert and then it was time for Charlie to go to bed.

"I want Rory to come."

Finn looked at Rory with an apologetic expression and asked her, "Do you mind?"

"Not at all, I would love to help. I miss tucking Ernest in every night."

They went upstairs and Charlie picked out a book.

Rory saw the title and laughed. "You and Ernest really will get along together well. He loves Curious George too."

Finn and Rory alternated reading the book to Charlie. When it was over Finn leaned in to give him a kiss and Charlie held his head down to whisper loudly into Finn's ear, "I like her."

Finn chuckled and replied back, "Me too. Sleep tight kiddo."

"Goodnight Daddy."

Downstairs again, Rory and Finn sat on the couch, discussing the night's events.

"He said he liked you."

"So I heard. You might want to review to concept of whispering with him though."

Finn laughed at that, "I've tried and tried, but he can't seem to master it."

"At least he's cute."

"Well he's got his father's good looks doesn't he."

"Yes he does." Rory leaned in to kiss Finn. The kiss quickly escalated into a series of kisses, each one a little more passionate. Soon they were completely horizontal on the couch when Rory whispered into Finn's ear.

"Maybe we should take this upstairs."

"Why would we go all the way upstairs when my room is so much closer?" He motioned with his head to the closed door.

"Right," Rory replied. They stood up, seldom breaking the contact of their bodies and lips. Finn pushed her up against the door and began kissing down her neckline. She stopped him for a moment.

"Before we do this, you have to promise me something."

"Anything," Finn quickly replied before moving back to her nick. She stopped him again and forced him to look her in the eye.

"Finn, this is serious. I need you to answer a question."

"Well get on with it then, I wanted to move on to the love making."

"Will there be coffee in the morning?"

"I think I can manage that. Can I continue now."

"Proceed," she said before offering up her neck willingly to become a victim of Finn's mouth.

He continued on her neck, opening the door and backing her towards his bed and unbuttoned her blouse slowly as she did the same to him. Rory finished with his shirt quickly and moved on to his belt. His hands found their way to her hair, and he tangled them in it. She moaned into his kiss, and pushed down the pants that were now unzipped and unbuttoned. He too pushed her skirt down around her ankles and she stepped out of it.

She paused with her thumbs hooked into the top of Finn's boxer shorts. "I guess it's time to find out if you really live up to Mr. Big."

He was surprised at her forwardness, but obliged by pushing her hands down, causing the boxers to fall to the ground. She gasped and he laughed while pushing her down on the bed.

Later that night they lay together in bed, with Finn's arms encircling Rory, who was lazily stroking them.

"So that was fun," Finn broke the comfortable silence they had been sharing.

"To say the least. You sell yourself short."

"I was surprised, you look like a screamer."

"You know Paris told me that once too. She said it was the quiet ones that were the loudest in bed."

They pondered Paris's knowledge of this before Rory again continued. "So we just had sex."

Finn looked down at her bewilderedly, "We did?"

"You know what I mean. I just want to talk about what this means."

"Well if you don't know what having sex means after that little expedition, then I certainly can't explain it to you."

"To our relationship. Can I even call it a relationship yet?"

"It means that this is an act that we will have to continue performing," he thought for a second before adding, "often."

"I just mean, I can't be in a casual relationship any more Finn. I have a son. I'm not at a point in my life where that type of relationship is plausible. And I'm no spring chicken either."

He laughed at the last comment. "Do you think I would have brought Charlie into this if I didn't want this to get serious? I mean, I usually save the meeting of the child until after I get laid. It's kind of like a reward."

"I want you to know that it makes me happy to hear you say that. I don't want to sound corny here though. I just think that this is a really good thing here."

"Good, cause it is a really good thing."

They sat there and thought about the weight of the underlying agreement they had just made.

"So tell me something."

"What do you want to know?"

She thought for a second. "Anything. Tell me how you became a lawyer."

"I went to law school."

"But I mean, Logan and Colin both had those familial obligations to work in the family business. And why you came here from Australia. And why you never went back."

"That's not telling you something, that's like fifty things."

"Well tell me. I want the life story. It might be a good idea to give me a Cliffs Notes version though."

"I guess I'll start at the beginning then. Chapter one: I am born, in Connecticut."

"Not Australia."

"Not Australia," he repeated. "That part comes later. My parents were Regina Scottsdale-McDonald and George McDonald. I am the second of two, my older brother's name is George Jr."

"Very original."

"That describes my parents perfectly," he replied sarcastically. "So for the first nine months of my life, I live in the great old U.S. of A. My parents, as any respectable blue blooded couple, had atrocious marital problems, but tried to keep them in the closet. They failed when my father was caught cheating with a neighbor at some Christmas party. One of the most notorious gossip queens in the country was in attendance, and so she of course spread the word among the socialites. My mother was ruined in the eyes of society. She had of course known about the affair, but had chosen to look the other way for the sake of her social standing. But with the information out in the open, she could no longer pretend to ignore it. So she did the only thing she could think of doing. She ran."

"I hope you don't mind me saying this, but your dad was an ass."

"Yeah he really was. Thus begins chapter two of my life: I move to Australia with my mother and my brother. We managed to stay there until I was 15, just long enough to develop a strong accent, without being found by my father. Although, I don't think he really had any used for us until then, but now that George was coming of age, he had to be educated and prepared to become the heir to the throne. And so we moved back."

"Chapter three?"

"Exactly. We move back, they send me to private school. I rebel with bad behavior. They reprimand me. I do it again, they reprimand me again.

"Sounds like a cycle."

"And that was only the first month. So in high school I take some classes, played some soccer. Eventually I manage to graduate with good enough grades for Yale, although it probably helped that my father's entire line were alums too."

"Maybe just a little."

"Anyway, there again, I took some classes drank some beer, and eventually manage to graduate, with less than great grades, but still good enough to get into Harvard law. I had the legacy there of course with my mother."

"Of course."

"So I partied my way through that, during which time I created and later found out about Charlie. I graduated, passed the bar and joined a law firm to fulfill the role of the 'promising young lawyer with that go-get-em attitude'. A few months later I get the fateful DUI. I went to court and tried to defend myself. Being drunk during the trial was not the best decision there. So they sent my away to rehab. Stayed with Colin and Stephanie for the next six months and then moved back here to be near Charlie. I got a new job, bought a house and became a real dad. And then I ran into a beautiful girl that I knew at Yale. And here I am, in bed, with you."

"Good story."

"I'm glad you like it. You know, I never really do this much talking after sex."

"It's pillow talk. We have to cuddle and talk. It's almost mandatory after the first time."

"Well, I'm liking it, except for the fact that it is now midnight, and Charlie will undoubtedly be awake in the morning before it should be humanly impossible for five year olds to function."

"Well let's get some sleep then."

They lay there for awhile, neither one of them falling asleep, but just enjoying the presence of the other.

"This is nice."

"Yeah. It is."

AN2: I felt like I had to give Finn a biography just because it's all left unexplained on the show. I mean, he seems to be a part of the social elite (the Yale mating ritual party) and he seems like he's been friends with Logan and Colin awhile. This was the best I could come up with, so please let me know what you like about that.

Preview for the next chapter: The morning after.


	9. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm

AN: Sorry it was so long for the update. I hope all of this seems in character enough. Please let me know how you like it.

Chapter Nine: Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm

Rory woke up the next morning to an empty space next to her. She sat up slowly and looked around for Finn. When she was greeted by no one, she noticed the sound of Charlie talking from the living room. She decided to shower and dress before she went out to lessen the shock of him seeing her there this early in the morning. After she was redressed in last night's jeans and a sweater, she opened the door that lead out to the rest of the house. She saw that the family room was empty, and made her way towards where she remembered the kitchen to be.

"Good morning!"

Rory glanced down at the sound of his voice. "Good morning Charlie. How are you doing today?"

"Good."

"That's good," she glanced up to see Finn standing at the counter. She walked over behind him and encircled her arms around her waist, which caused him to turn around, revealing the plate of pancakes he was holding in his right hand. He placed his other hand on the side of her head as he leaned down to kiss her.

"Hey babe." He moved his free arm to her shoulders and guided her towards the breakfast table.

"Hey yourself." She then noticed the plate of pancakes he had set onto the table. "Who made breakfast?"

"Betty Crocker," he said as he pulled out her chair for her. "But she said I was an excellent helper."

"Well thank you."

They sat in silence for the next few minutes as they concentrated on their food.

Charlie was the first to break the silence. "Rory, how come you're here?"

The question was entirely innocent, but Rory had no idea how to answer it. Before she had a chance to, Finn beat her to the punch. "You see Charlie, Rory stayed the night last night."

"Slumber party?"

"It was kind of like the slumber parties your mom and Jack have."

"So is she gonna stay over a lot more?"

Finn looked up to Rory's slightly blushing face as he said, "I sure do hope so."

Rory didn't miss the slight innuendo in his voice that went unnoticed by Charlie.

"Dad, I'm done, can I go watch TV?"

"Take your plate to the sink, and don't turn on any of that Yu-Gi-Oh crap."

Once he left the room, Finn came over to Rory and pulled her up to meet his gaze. "I've been waiting for him to leave ever since I heard you wake up."

"Why?"

"So I could do this," with that comment he lowered his head to hers and the two combined in a deep kiss that only escalated when Finn sat down on the chair she was previously occupying, and pulled Rory to straddle his lap.

Rory stopped the kiss which only caused Finn to move down to her neck. "Finn, we can't do this."

He stopped for a second, "I think we proved last night that we are capable of way more than this."

"I meant," she moaned when Finn moved back to her neck. "With Charlie in the next room."

"I can tell him to go upstairs."

"Finn," her tone was warning, which was extremely hard to do with the way Finn had been kissing her only minutes before.

"Fine, ruin all my fun. You're going to have to pay for this later."

"I think you would have had to pay for this much more if Charlie went back to his mom's house today and told her about witnessing this little encounter."

"He sees it all the time. Jack and Cindy are like rabbits. Charlie's gonna be the one telling all the other kids in his kindergarten class where babies come from."

"Aren't you proud?"

"Couldn't be happier."

By now, Rory and moved so that she was sitting on Finn's lap, with her head snuggled into his neck.

"So last night was fun."

"If you're looking for an understatement, then yes, it was fun."

"You're cute when you sleep."

"Why thank you. So are you. I especially liked the humming. Is that an everyday occurrence or did you do that just for me?"

"Hum? I do not hum! I don't make any noise when I sleep."

"Right…"

"I don't! Someone would have told me by now. My mom, or Jess, hell, even Logan would have been blunt enough to mention that!"

"I wouldn't make this up. They probably just didn't make the mistake I did in telling you. They knew how much you'd freak out."

"I'm not freaking out. I'm merely denying something that I know isn't true!"

"Fine, Rory. It's fine. You don't hum, okay?"

"No, I'm calling Jess. He's the one person who'll be honest with me." She took her cell phone from her purse.

"Well, while you're doing that, do you mind if I go take a shower? You still kind of left me hanging there from our little make out session."

"Oh, by all means, go take care of yourself."

"Much appreciated darling, although, are you sure you don't want to take care of it for me?"

She threw a dish towel at his disappearing form.

He added just before he entered his bedroom door, "And I can feel you checking out my bum, so don't try to deny it."

She giggled as she waited for Jess to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Jess."

"I'm sorry, who's this?" He repeated the same thing every time she called him.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the woman you have to thank for having a son."

"God? I never knew you were a woman."

"Can it Jess."

"Alright, alright. So to what do I owe this fantastic pleasure?"

"Can't a girl call the father of her baby to chat?"

"Oh, believe me, a call from you is always welcome. But you usually call every night at 7:30. It's 10:30, in the morning I might add. Which reminds me, why the hell are you awake?"

"Says the guy who used to wake up an hour before you'd take me out on Saturday night for a date."

"Stop being so evasive. You're reminding me of me."

"Well I did want to firm up plans about handing Ernest off in a few weeks."

"Well I can just fly up with him."

"Come on Jess! You know you want to go to Stars Hallow. The End of Summer Festival. Your very favorite festival of all! Its four weeks from today. You know you can get off work for a few days, especially this far in advance. Ernest loves Star Hallow."

"Geez, if I say yes will you stop whining?"

"For the time being, yes."

"So was there anything else you wanted, because…"

"Because what?"

"Well…you just seem a little…giddy."

"I'm not giddy. Can't someone just be in a good mood?" She couldn't help her smile creeping into her words.

"Aha! I know that voice! You had sex didn't you?"

"I…"

"You did!"

"How do you do that?"

"A gift. So who's the guy? I didn't even know you were seeing anyone."

"Well, about a week and a half ago I ran into someone I used to know in college, and we reconnected. And you can guess what happens next."

"Good for you. I always said you needed to get laid more."

"God Jess, could you be any cruder? I hope Ernest isn't with you."

"He's not in the room, but I taught him the glass to the door thing yesterday, so he probably heard the whole conversation."

"Great, now he'll be using the expression get laid."

"I'll tell him not to…unless he uses it appropriately. I should probably go though. It was my turn in Monopoly, so he's probably added hotels to all his properties in my absence."

"Okay Jess, I guess I'll talk to you and Ernest later. Oh, wait, there was something else I wanted to ask you."

"Shoot."

"When we were together…do you remember any…noises that I made when I slept."

"You mean the hum? Hmmm hmm hmmmm hmm."

"Damnit."

"What?"

"Finn said I did, but I didn't believe him."

"Finn?"

"The new guy."

"His name's Finn?"

"Phineas. He's Australian."

"And suddenly the world makes sense again."

"Okay, I've got to go. Monopoly's callin' my name."

"Well soak up as much of him as you can in the next four weeks, because then, he's mine again, and I don't know if I can bear to let him go again."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Bye Jess."

"Do you believe me now?" said Finn from the doorway.

"God Finn, don't sneak up on me like that!"

"You're avoiding the question. Do you believe me now?"

"About what? What were we talking about again?"

"So he confirmed then?"

"I hate you."

"No you don't. You just hate that I'm right."

"Well Mr. Right," she laughed at her stupid pun. "I need to go home and get some things done. Call me later?"

"Well since I've now been given such a high title, I suppose I have to."

Fin leaned in to kiss her and quickly had her pressed up against the counter.

"Finn…"

"Come on, you're not too good for a quickie, are you?"

"Charlie's gonna stay in there?" He nodded. "Well, maybe just a little one."

With that Finn picked her up and carried her into his bedroom.


	10. You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore

AN: Corrections to Chapter Nine. I Jess said Charlie instead of Ernest, thanks for pointing that out kiwifruit03. Also, Rory said that Jess had Ernest for the next four months. He really only had him for the next four weeks from that point. The Corrections have been made.

I'd also like to respond one reviewer who asked if I knew I was brilliant, I'd like to say, Of course! I'd like to cite my pen name as an example of my self acknowledged brilliance. Anyway, I sure do hope this chapter is in character. I'd like to think so. Then again, I also like to think I'm a genius, so you can judge for yourself. (The correct answer is that yes, I am a genius. I have proof.)

Chapter Ten: You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore

Three weeks later on a Friday night, Finn walked in to Rory Gilmore's now familiar house after work. He tried knocking, but music was blasting so loud that he figured she couldn't hear him, so he came in through the unlocked door.

"Rory?" he called out to the house. "You know, you shouldn't leave the door unlocked when you're here by yourself. It's not safe."

When he was greeted with no answer, he began to search the house. The song playing on the stereo, he could now decipher as We Got the Beat. When he entered the kitchen he could see her behind sticking out of the open refrigerator, but the rest of her body was bent over inside the fridge.

This was the perfect opportunity if he ever saw one. He walked over and grabbed her ass, which evoked a gasp from her, before turning to the coffee pot to pour himself a cup. A moment later he was assaulted by a stalk of celery.

"What the hell are you doing in my daughter's house, grabbing my ass, and drinking my coffee!"

He turned to be greeted by the site of not his girlfriend, but her mother. "I-I-I'm so sorry. I thought you were Rory."

"Well I guess I can appreciate the compliment. Judging from the accent I guess it's safe to assume that you're Finn?"

"Yes ma'am." He couldn't believe that she just brushed off the ass grab.

"Now I'll have none of that. If you wish to live you will call me Lorelai."

"Alright Lorelai."

"Good. So is there anything I can help you with?"

"I actually came by to surprise Rory. It's our one month anniversary. If you don't mind me asking though, were you supposed to be here today? I mean, I think she would've mentioned you coming."

"Well, I figured I'd come for the weekend to hang with Rory, maybe get drunk, and then go home to discover the mess that my kids have made with only their father supervising them."

"Oh, alright then, I guess…" as Finn trailed off, they both heard the door opening.

She walked into the kitchen and noticed the two unexpected persons. "What are you guys doing here?"

Finn looked at her for a second. "Surprise?" He offered lamely.

Lorelai explained the situation to Rory, during which Rory and Finn were silent, except for when Rory reached over and smacked Finn when Lorelai said he grabbed her butt. When she was finished, they all sat in silence for a moment.

"Well," began Rory. "What should we all do?"

"I can leave," said Finn. "It feels wrong to deny you your time together."

"No, no. I should be the one to leave. This is your first anniversary."

"Neither of you are leaving," proclaimed Rory, in a 'don't you dare object' voice. "What were your plans for tonight Finn?"

"Dinner, desert and a night of passionate," he suddenly remembered Lorelai's presence in the room. "Crossword puzzles. We were going to do crossword puzzles."

"Well, that won't do. My mom hates crossword puzzles."

"It's true. After that incident where I spent a week trying to figure out a three-letter word for evasive that starts with a c."

"Coy," said Rory and Finn in unison.

"Oh my God. You were actually going to do crosswords. You were, weren't you? This is like some weird pod-people world."

They ignored her comment as they shared a smile over their reply. Suddenly, Finn looked as if he had had an epiphany. "I've got it. Let's go to a karaoke bar!"

"Perfect!" Exclaimed Lorelai.

"No way in hell."

"Oh come on babe, you don't have to sing. Leave that to me."

"Come on Rory, it'll be fun! Or need I remind you of the agonizing 62 hours of labor I was in when I had you."

"You weren't in labor for 62 hours mom."

"You don't know. I could have been."

"Fine, fine. I'll go."

"Splendid. My friend Joe owns a karaoke bar in Southie. It's the best of both worlds. We can make fun of their horrible singing, and their accents at the same time."

"Look who's talking," accused Rory. "Your accent will be much more noticeable."

"But mine's exotic."

They decided to eat dinner, to prepare for the night of humiliation. They went out to dinner, which Finn insisted to pay for, before driving the half hour to the bar. Finn had the Caddy, and so Rory offered her mother the front seat and sat in the back.

"So, are you thinking of all the songs you're going to sing Rory?" Her mother jokingly asked her, knowing it would take an earthquake to make her daughter do karaoke.

"Yeah, I was thinking the old classic, 'No Way in Hell.' Oh and I almost forgot, that eighties power ballad, 'Over My Dead Body'"

"Well you don't have to be so snippy about it," said Lorelai. She then turned to Finn. "What about you Australian, you got any songs in mind?"

"Oh, plenty. But it's a surprise. I'll give you a hint though, I will be paying small tribute to my national homage."

"Ooh! Olivia Newton John?"

"I was thinking more like AC/DC, but I'll try to take on something by Olivia if I get through my lengthy list."

"Well, I'd be a willing participant in a Grease duet."

"I'll keep that in mind."

The rest of the drive was mostly silent, save the Oasis CD playing. When they arrived at the bar, it was around eight o'clock.

"Well ladies, I think we got here at the perfect time. Within the next hour, our large audience will assemble, but they'll all be too sober to sing, leaving the mic open to moi."

"That reminds me, you're going to do karaoke sober?"

"Oh, alcohol was never needed for me to make a fool of myself. It was just something to make me look like more of a fool."

"I think I'm going to like you being in AA though. It's like a built in Designated Driver, without the guilt of not letting someone else drink."

They walked into the bar, which was indeed starting to fill up. Finn led them over to the bar and spoke to a bartender, where Lorelai quickly ordered a Martini and Rory gave in to her mother's chiding and ordered a Long Island ice tea.

"But you better not be trying to get me drunk so I'll sleep with you," she said to her mother.

After a few minutes, a man in a suit walked over to them. "Finn! Great to see you!" He and Finn shared a manly hug.

"You too, Joe. I'd like to introduce you my girlfriend Rory, and her mother Lorelai." Rory silently smiled at his mention of her as his girlfriend. It was the first time they had ever labeled each other.

"Pleasure! Any friend of Finn's is a friend of mine."

"So how did you two meet?" Inquired Lorelai.

"We're in AA together," supplied Finn.

"And Finn did my divorce. So can I get you guys anything?"

"I think we're good here. But a little latter on you might help us out in surpassing the queue for singing."

"Of course, Finn." He then turned to the other occupants of the table, "You know Finn's actually good for business. He makes people aspire to reach his level of entertainment."

"We'll be the judge of that," said Rory.

A waitress came up to deliver their drinks, and the waitress whispered something into his ear.

"Thank you Rose," he said to the waitress. And then to the rest of the group, "I'm sorry, but there seems to be a problem that requires my attention. Oh, all your drinks will be on the house for the night, I've already informed Jeremy at the bar."

"Thanks man, it's been great seeing you."

"You too, I'll try to stop by sometime later tonight."

"We'll be here."

"Well that was nice of him," said Lorelai.

"Yeah, he does that every time I come in. I think he still feels indebted to me for the discount I gave him on his divorce work."

"Well, in any case, it means more free liquor for me!" Joked Lorelai.

After Joe left the table, Finn left to go sign himself up for his list of songs. When he came back he whispered something into Lorelai's ear.

"Oh, that is so perfect! I can't wait!"

"For what?" Rory didn't know if she liked her boyfriend and her mother having secrets.

"You shall see," said Finn as he left to go do his first song. It was a surprisingly good rendition of Sinatra's 'That's Life'. He returned to the table with the applause still following him.

"Very good Finn. I have to say I'm surprised," remarked Rory.

"The lady doth underestimate much."

Lorelai's turn came soon after to sing 'Vacation' as Rory and Finn watched. Finn went through a number of other songs including 'You Shook Me All Night Long', 'Twist and Shout' and more of his other favorites.

At around eleven o'clock, he turned to Lorelai. "It's Time for our duet. You ready?"

"As I'll ever be." She followed him to the stage, where he got applause from his newly aquired fans.

The music started to a song Rory didn't immediately recognize. Lorelai began singing in a dramatic voice Rory soon recognized as her Barbra impression.

You don't bring me flowers  
You don't sing me love songs

Finn replied in an equally bad impression of what Rory assumed from the song was supposed to be Neil Diamond.

You hardly talk to me anymore  
When you come through the door  
At the end of the day

Lorelai answered back again, this time giggling slightly at the words she was singing.

I remember when  
You couldn't wait to love me  
Used to hate to leave me  
Now after lovin' me late at night

Finn replied:

When it's good for you  
And you're feeling alright

Lorelai again answered back:

Well you just roll over  
And you turn out the light  
And you don't bring me flowers anymore

When they made it to the harmonic section, Rory could hardly stay on her chair. She applauded them, causing Finn to go into a deep bow.

"Bravo!"

"I'm glad you liked it hon. Perhaps next time I can get you to accompany me?"

"Right."

"Well, this has forever secured you in the Rory's boyfriend Hall of Fame," said Lorelai. "There are a great many who have come before that I have thought I liked, but I didn't know what true liking of a man dating my daughter was until now. You have replaced the infamous Chuck, who was my favorite simply because he was so ridiculously clueless. I had to let him call me Mrs. Danes because I think he was afraid his mother would scald him for calling an adult by her first name. And the jumpiness! My God, he flinched every time someone blinked. Oh, and I couldn't even think of swearing…"

"Mom! Could you not relive my dating past at this very moment. You'll scare Finn away. Besides, I only dated Chuck because I thought he'd be a good step-father for Ernest."

"Way to be a party-pooper. I'm sure he'd love to hear about it." She turned back towards Finn. "Now Jess. He's someone that's definitely not on the best boyfriends list."

"Oh, I've heard about him. Ernest's dad, right?"

"Well, Jess is Ernest's dad, but that's the newer, more improved Jess. The Jess I'm referring to is early Jess, who I will now refer to as Er-Jess from here on out."

"I'm going to the bathroom mom. Stop talking about Jess."

"Ok, well be careful," she returned to Finn. "As I was saying, Er-Jess filled the role of the 'rebel without a cause, nor want for a cause' boyfriend. He is definitely the worst thing I ever encountered as far as Rory's boyfriends. He's fine now, as you'll probably find whenever you meet him. Oh! Oh!"

"You alright?"

"What are you doing next weekend?"

"I have a feeling that even if I did have plans I'll be canceling them shortly."

"You bet you will. You have to come to Stars Hallow with Rory! Everyone would love to meet you."

"Well I'd love to, but I think we should talk to Rory about it."

"Talk to me about what?" asked Rory upon her return from the restroom.

Lorelai told Rory her idea, which Rory was quick to agree to.

"Well, I guess I'll be there then," agreed Finn.

Later that night, Rory and Finn were undressing in Rory's room.

"You're sure it's okay for me to stay over with your mom here?"

"Stay over, yes. No sex though. That's just weird."

"Okay, we'll just have to be extra cuddy then."

"Fine by me."

Rory fell asleep moments later and started her soft humming. Finn, however was having trouble sleeping, so he untangled Rory from his arms and went into the kitchen downstairs.

"Hey there." He was startled by Lorelai and jumped at the sound of her voice. "Now cut that out or I'll have to start calling you Duncan."

"Hey Lorelai."

"Pull up a chair."

They sat in silence for a minute before Finn spoke. "Is this the time when you give me the 'You break her heart I'll break your neck' speech?"

"No, now and days it's more like 'You break her heart I'll slash the tires on your Cadillac' speech."

AN2: Hope you like this chapter. I'm very proud of it. If you haven't heard the song, you should. While I do really like Neil Diamond, Barbara, (as in Streisand, if you didn't already get that) kinda gets on my nerves. The comment about Southie is not meant to offend. I love people from Boston. Please review and tell me how brilliant I am. Or how annoying my confidence is.


	11. Tuesday Afternoon is Never Ending

AN: Woot Woot! An update! Hurrah for me! Sorry it was so long coming, but I do have a very busy life. Expect no more until probably May. AP tests are coming up which means one thing. I get a visitor's pass to hell for the entire month of April! How did I get so lucky? So, keep my suffering in your thoughts and prayers, and I go through this hellish month. Hope this chapter holds you over for now though. I like it, which is really all that matters, so without furder ado, have at it!

Chapter Eleven: Tuesday Afternoon is Never Ending

That weekend, Finn stepped aside to allow Lorelai to spend some, as she said, 'much needed child-free girl time' with Rory. He instead chose to finish up the work he had planned for the week in order to leave with Rory Wednesday afternoon for the extra long weekend in Stars Hollow. This worked for Finn's work schedule since he only ever scheduled meetings for the first three days of the week. He was also concerned with taking care of Charlie, who was also joining them on the trip, since it was Finn's week with him. Their plan was to arrive Wednesday evening in order to have four full days of 'Stars Hollow goodness.' Rory's words, not his.

While in the office on Tuesday morning, working on the tedious divorce case of Lyman v. Lyman, he realized, conveniently that he hadn't spoken to Colin in about a week, and he thought he should let his friend know he would be close to Hartford. Besides, he reasoned with himself, he was going to go bonkers if he kept trying to come up with a way for the Lyman's to equally slit their prize-winning Chinchilla, which both were gunning for. He dialed the familiar number and waited as the phone rang.

"Colin Mayer's office."

"Hey Jeanne. It's Finn. Is Colin around?"

"Mister Bradbury is in his office, Mister McDonald. Would you like me to connect you?"

"Thanks Jean."

The line went to elevator-esque music as Finn waited for Colin to pick up.

"Finn, darling!" Colin answered in his most sincere impression of a lady of society.

"Colin! How_ have _you been?"

"Same old, same old. Steph's coming along quite nicely. Kids are crazy. Nothing much happening. How about yourself?"

"Well, I was just calling to say I'm gonna be in town, sort of, this weekend, and I was hoping we could get together some night."

"You mean how we're all going out to dinner on Thursday night?"

"Yeah, actually, Thursday would be perfect."

"Well good thing Rory already called and scheduled then."

"She what?"

"How did you not know this? She called last Saturday to make sure we could have time to get a sitter. Much more considerate than you, I might add."

"I'm still not used to her and Stephanie being friends."

"Well get used to it bud."

"So I guess it's useless for me to even tell you how things have been going between us then?"

"I'd pretend to listen if you wanted to tell me."

"I won't bore you with the details."

"Thank god! I was so not looking forward to that."

"Yeah, well, how goes all in the world of high society?"

"Now that is definitely same old, same old. DAR benefits, charity dinners, all that crap. I swear, I still wonder how you got yourself out it."

"It comes with being the second born son. And the family black sheep status didn't hurt either."

"Not to mention, the constant getting drunk and causing scenes at almost every function you attended."

"Exactly. So where exactly will we be going for dinner Thursday?"

"I'm not sure. I asked Stephanie what to wear and she said she set out some clothes for me."

"Aww, your wife dresses you! I can't wait to see! Ooh, I hope it's something pink!"

"I hope I don't disappoint," after saying this, there as a short pause at each man tried to think of something to say. "So have you talked to Logan lately?"

"Well…" Finn hesitated. "I hadn't talked to him since the beginning of the summer, and I was meaning to call him, but then things got started with Rory, and I just figured…"

"Finn!"

"Well, you know how bad I am at keeping really big secrets. And Logan would suspect something if I talked to him, so I decided avoidance was the best choice."

"You mean you haven't had any contact with Logan in three months and he hasn't even called you? If I were you, I'd break up with him."

"Well, there hasn't exactly been no contact."

"So did you email him, or what?"

"Well, he did call, a couple times…"

"Finn…what did you do?"

"I just had Rose tell him about how I'm wrapped up in this huge case..."

Colin interrupted him, "You had your secretary lie for you? To your best friend, no less! It'd be fine if it was a one night stand you never called. Or a client. Or even your _mother_ for Christ's sake. But to Logan?"

"I couldn't help it. What would he say if he finds out?"

"When."

"What?"

"When he finds out."

"He doesn't need to know."

"Do you plan on ending this thing with Rory anytime soon?"

"No." Finn had no idea where Colin was going with this.

"So, I can safely assume, that you intend for your relationship with Rory to be long-lasting. Possibly even to the point of an infinite time-span?"

"Yeah…" Finn considered it for a moment. He hadn't really thought too much about it during the past month, but he suddenly realized that he couldn't imagine his future without Rory in it. "I guess I plan for us to be together for awhile."

"Good for you Finn. But back to my point."

"You have a point?"

"Getting there. How many times, would you say, that you see Logan a year?"

"Five, maybe six. Colin, you know this stuff, you're usually there."

Colin ignored him and continued. "How many of these occasions take place at you house?"

"Two or three. Jesus!" Finn was getting fed up with this pointless line of questioning. "If you were a lawyer, Colin, you would suck."

Colin again ignored his comments. "So, if Rory and your relationship escalated to the point of living together, how would you get Rory past Logan? I mean, I guess you could dress her up like a lamp and put a shade over her head, but somehow I'm thinking that Logan might se past that."

"Colin, this cruel reality is a little too early."

"What?" Now Colin was confused.

"You should have given me at least another month of new relationship bliss before you unloaded the harsh reality on me. You suck."

"I'm helping out and you know it."

"Damn you for being right! So how should I tell Logan?"

"You mean, how should you tell your best friend of the past twelve years that you're currently involved in a serious relationship with the first girl he ever considered having a serious relationship with?"

"Potato, Potato."

"Right. Well, I think you should definitely do this in person. That way if he wants to punch something, it can be your face."

"How thoughtful."

"So I suggest you call him up, and plan to meet him for dinner within the next couple of weeks. In the city of course. You don't want to make him drive home from Boston for four hours if he's extremely pissed."

"Have you done this before?"

"All the time. So you think you can handle all that, Champ?"

"Yes dad." Again, there was a silence on the line as both thought, before Colin spoke.

"So, you're really in new relationship bliss, huh?"

A few minutes later Finn was dialing Logan's work line, praying he was unavailable so he wouldn't have to talk to him. He should really do some work sometime today, he realized as he looked at the pole of papers on his desk.

"Logan Huntzburger."

"Logan? Answering your own phones? I'm appalled!"

"The secretaries already away getting me coffee, so I figured I do something for myself for a change."

"Good for you."

"I thought so. So, my fine-feathered Australian friend, long time no speak."

"Has it really been that long though? It seems like just yesterday that you and I were talking about fishing."

"When have we ever talked about fishing Finn?"

"You know that time, when we were at that lake. And then we both jumped in, and you started to drown. And Pamela Anderson came up and was going to save you, but she got distracted by my charm, and her and I went up into the lifeguard tower while you got eaten by sharks. You know, now that I think about it, that was probably a dream."

Logan chuckled at his friend's rant. "Seriously Finn, where have you been for the past three months?"

"Oh, you know, around…"

"Does this around involve something with females?"

Finn grinned to himself, "Maybe."

"I knew it!"

"Right well, as much fun as all of this gossiping is," Finn quickly segued the topic from his love-life. "I was hoping we could get together soon."

"Well, I can't do it this weekend, I have to go to Hartford for business."

"You're going to Hartford this weekend? So am I."

"What for?"

"You know, business, and stuff."

"What business does a divorce lawyer have to travel for?"

"Lots. So as I was saying, we'll be in Hartford this weekend?"

"Well, you know. It's actually a long weekend. My dad wants me to mingle with the social crowd while I'm there, so I got roped into going for four days. I'm flying up Thursday."

"Great! How about we get together while you're there? It'll save me the trip to New York."

"Well," said Logan, who was currently perusing his day planner. "The only day I'm free is Thursday, right after I get in. How's seven o'clock."

"Actually, I'm having dinner with Colin on Thursday."

"Perfect! Where?"

"I don't know. I think Stephanie was planning it."

"Well I'll just call her for details then."

"Logan, I think you should know something about this dinner." He couldn't very well tell him that Rory was going to be there. And he couldn't tell him not to come, but he didn't want him to be shocked to see him there."

"Listen, Finn. I'm sorry but I've got to go. I'm late for a meeting."

"Right well, I guess I'll see you Thursday, then."

"Right. See you then."


	12. Wednesday Morning Paper Never Comes

AN: Sorry this update was so long coming, but it is before when I said it was gonna be, so that's a good thing. Plus it's long. What are you doing still reading this, read the story!

Chapter Twelve: Wednesday Morning Paper Never Comes

The next day, Finn rolled up to Rory's house, precisely at 2:30, as agreed upon, in his SUV. He parked in the front, and got out of the car to help Rory with her bags, while Charlie waited in the car.

He walked into the house without knocking, which was becoming a regular thing for him. When he failed to find Rory downstairs, he ascended to her second floor bedroom. As he suspected, he found her amidst piles of clothes strewn about the room.

"I should have known you wouldn't be ready."

"And I should have known you wouldn't have the common courtesy to be late. It doesn't matter though, because," she threw one last article of clothing into her open suitcase. "I am now packed."

"Good, now can we leave?"

"Sure. Can you help me with my stuff?" Finn moved towards the medium sized suitcase sitting on the bed. "Not that one, silly." She motioned to the large bag on the floor next to her, which Finn hadn't noticed before.

"Of course. Far be it for me to think you hadn't over packed."

"It's not over packing. It's being ready for everything."

"In Omnia Paratus," he replied jokingly as he followed her down the stairs. They made their way out towards the car, where the put Rory's bags into the back, and both climbed into the front seats.

"Wait, I forgot the snacks!"

"It's a two hour drive."

"Exactly," she said as she got out of the car and went back into the house. She returned a minute later with a grocery bag full of junk food. "I hope it's enough. I only grabbed a few things from the pantry.

"I'm sure you'll find a way to make it stretch," he said only half seriously.

They spent the drive with sporadic chit chat as they listened to a CD Finn made for the trip. When they arrived at the famed Stars Hallow rooster, Rory was so excited she could hardly give Finn the directions. As soon as they pulled up to Luke', Rory jumped out of the car and practically ran into the diner.

"Where's my mom?"

"Hey Rory, your mom's upstairs getting the place ready for Jess."

"Actually, I'm finished," said a voice from behind them.

Rory turned towards her mother. "Mother!"

"Daughter!"

The bell above the door rang signaling Finn and Charlie's entry into the diner, although neither Gilmore Girl noticed nor cared.

As they were having a reunification ceremony of sorts, Finn took the opportunity to introduce himself to Luke. "Hi, I'm Finn."

Luck took the hand Finn offered him and replied, "Luke." He looked down to the boy standing beside Finn. "You must be Charlie."

He only nodded in response.

"So, do they usually do this when Rory comes home, because she and Lorelai just saw each other a few days ago."

"Don't ask them about it, they'll only go on to mock you relentlessly for not knowing the difference between a reunion and a homecoming."

"Thanks for the tip."

"Well, I've made the mistake before and it was not a good thing."

Rory and Lorelai chose this moment to cease their celebration and came over to the men.

"So I see you've gotten aquatinted?" Asked Lorelai.

"Oh yeah," replied Finn. "We're old pals. Ain't that right Luke."

"Uh, yeah, sure."

Rory interjected, "When's Jess supposed to be here?"

"All he told me on the phone was, he'll be here when he gets here."

"Typical, thinking we cared at all about him. I just want to see my baby."

"Well, I'm guess he won't be here at least until 5:30. So you might want to think about something other than standing in the middle of my restaurant, taking up space."

"Luke likes to pretend he's tough, but he's really an old softy. He cried during Old Yeller," defended Lorelai for her husband's comment

"It's okay for a guy to cry during Old Yeller," he said as he repeated the familiar argument. "It's a guys crying movie. Now if you breakdown during Titanic, then there's something wrong."

They paused for a minute before Lorelai spoke. "So Rory, why don't you guys drive the car over to the house and unpack. Then you can leave Charlie there with the kids. Sookie's over there with the kids, and you can give Finn the grand tour of the town."

"That sounds like a plan," she replied and they made their way out to the car.

Rory directed Finn, "Okay, turn left down that street." Finn followed her directions. She waited a second before speaking again. "Annnnd, we're here."

"You're joking."

"Why would I joke?"

"That was like a twenty second drive."

"I know, my mom loves it. She used to have a ten minute walk separating herself and Luke's coffee. Now it's a minute thirty if she walks briskly. Although, since they got married, it was kind of beside the point, but hey. She likes the atmosphere."

He laughed as he got out of the car and started to unbuckle Charlie when Lorelai arrived.

"Wow Mom, I think you might have beaten your record this time."

"I know, I've been practicing. I think the only way I could get any faster would be to actually run." Both the women laughed at the thought.

Finn appeared next to him with Rory's bags in hand. "Where should I put these, babe?"

Lorelai did a silent 'aw' moment in her head at the sight of them together with Finn carrying her bags. Rory turned towards her. "What are the sleeping arrangements for the weekend, mom? Did you book a room at the inn, or what?"

"The inn, psh. I wouldn't make them stay at 'the top rated medium-sized inn in Connecticut.'"

"That's right mom, keep dropping that into every conversation you get a chance to."

"As I was saying, I wouldn't make Finn and Charlie stay in the inn. I've got it all figured out. Me and Luke will of course just sleep in our room. Billy's got bunk beds, so Charlie can have the bottom. Meanwhile, Sarah and Jessie will have their room. Jess sleeps at the diner as always. That leaves the guest bedroom and the study."

Rory stepped in. "Okay, so I'll take the pullout in the study and Finn can have the bedroom."

"Not so fast there. I insist that Rory takes the bed and I'll take the pullout. How bad can it be?"

"Bad," said both Lorelai and Rory together. Lorelai then continued alone, "But I digress. I swear, you people never let me finish. We will give Earnest the pullout since he's young and spry, and you two can share the guest bedroom."

"You really don't have to do that Lorelai. I mean, I could just get a room at the inn."

"You don't have to pretend nothings going on for my sake. I mean come on, Finn spent the night in Boston, why's it different here? I just want a promise that I will hear no noise coming from that room"

"You have my personal guarantee." She turned to Finn. "Let me grab some stuff and I'll show you to our room."

She led him into the large home and up the stairs to a room with a plush bed and oak furniture.

"So your mum turned your old bedroom into a guestroom then?"

"Well, I never actually live in this house. Luke bought it for him and my mom while I was in college, and by the time they were married and finally moved in, I didn't need a real room here. Besides, even though she calls this the guest room, I'm the only one who ever sleeps in it. So it could be called my room." He nodded in understanding.

"Plus," she moved towards the closet and opened the door. "My mom could never let a real guest see all the extra clothes she keeps in here."

"Yeah, I especially like that green sparkly one."

"So does she, believe me."

Finn went back downstairs to get the rest of the bags and they unpacked themselves and Charlie. When they went back downstairs, they found that Charlie had made fast friends with Billy, and the two were now playing a video game on the TV.

"Hey Charlie, we're gonna go…"

"Okay Dad. Bye."

Finn chuckled, "I guess he's found where he wants to be for the next four days."

"Yeah, Billy won't leave that spot all weekend except to eat."

They then moved outside to where Lorelai was watching Sarah and Jessie on the swing set.

"Sookie left already?"

"Yeah, she wanted to get to the inn to check on the dinner prep. She loves that new chef we got at the inn so much she trusts him to be in charge of dinner."

"He must be pretty impressive then," she said thinking that anyone who could get Sookie to step away from the kitchen had to be good. "We're gonna get going now. If Jess gets here someone better call me so I can get back to see my baby."

"Will do, hon. Have fun!"

They began to walk around the town square, with Rory pointing out interesting sights and sharing stories of her childhood with Finn. Twenty minutes later, when they had seen everything deemed good enough for the tour, including the crap shack, they found themselves in front of the foot bridge. Sitting on the bridge was none other than the man they'd all been waiting for.

"Jess!" Rory called out to him.

"Hey Ror." He got up and walked over to her. "How have you been?"

"Fine," she accepted the hug he offered her. "Where's Ernest?"

"I left him with Lorelai. She said she'd call you."

Rory looked into her purse for her phone. "Darn. I left it on silent." She then remembered Finn standing there where he discretely cleared his throat. "Sorry. Jess this is my boyfriend Finn. Finn, this is Jess."

"Nice to meet you Jess." Finn extended his hand. Rory prayed that Jess wouldn't revert back to his old jerky ways and refuse to shake it.

"You too Finn." He took the hand that was offered to him. Rory breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Okay, now that everyone's been introduced, I vote we go back to the house." Jess looked like he was about to speak. "And before either of you say anything, I'd like to remind you that mine is the only vote that counts."

"I was just going to agree with you Rory. Chill out."

"Ha! Chill out. I am chill. I just want to see my son, who you've been keeping in that stupid apartment in New York for the past two months, while I was left with nothing to do."

"Hey!" Exclaimed Finn in protest.

"Well, I might have had _something _to do."

"Damn right," he replied. They all laughed as they walked back to Lorelai and Luke's house.

Finn took the opportunity to talk to Jess. "So was Ernest excited to see his aunts and uncle?"

"First cousins once removed," replied Jess.

"Beg pardon?"

Rory interjected, "They're his aunts and uncle, and his first cousins once removed."

"I don't get it."

"Jess is Luke's nephew. Luke and Lorelai's kids are his cousins. So they're Ernest's first cousins once removed from Jess's side." Finn nodded in half understanding. "But since Lorelai is my mother, and hers and Luke's kids are my half brother and sisters, he's also their half nephew."

"Okay. So what you're telling me is that you're all inbred?"

"What she saying is that both of the Gilmore women couldn't resist the Danes charm."

Rory scoffed at this. "Yeah right!"

Finn laughed at their antics as they arrived back at Casa de Danes. Rory immediately ran into the house and scooped Ernest up from where he was sitting on the couch.

"My baby!"

"Mommy!" They wrapped each other into a big hug.

"I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Mom."

After they shared their embrace, she put him down and led him over to Charlie, who was still sitting next to Billy on the floor in front of the TV.

"I want you to meet someone, buddy. This is Charlie. Charlie's dad and I have been spending a lot of time together lately. He's a really nice kid, right Charlie?"

"Yep."

"Ernest, why don't you sit here and watch Billy and Charlie play?"

"Okay mom." Rory walked back to where Finn and Jess had been joined by Lorelai and were watching the introduction.

"I think they like each other," she said hopefully.

"I could agree with that," Jess replied as he motioned back towards the television set, where Charlie had given his controller to Ernest and was now helping the younger boy to navigate the turns of the game.

Later, Rory and Lane were lounging on the furniture in the back yard as they watched the scene in front of them. Lorelai had surprised them all with a party to celebrate their homecoming. It seemed like half the town was there including Miss Patty; Babette and Morey; Sookie, Jackson and their three kids; Kirk, Lulu and Kirk Jr.; in addition to all the other Stars Hallow favorites.

Currently, they were watching the football game going on with all of the kids. Finn and Jess were also playing, and Finn was currently rolling on the ground with Billy and Ernest hanging off of him.

"So you haven't asked what I thought yet," began Lane.

"What you thought of what?"

"The Australian of course."

"I don't think everyone realizes that he is an American citizen. He was born here for God's sake."

"He's got the accent, he's Australian."

"Fine," she paused. "So Lane, what do you think of Finn?"

"I thought you'd never ask. Honestly Rory, I think things have never happened at a better time for you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that usually when you meet a guy it's the wrong place or the wrong time. I mean, look at Jess. He didn't straighten out until six years after you broke up. And Logan was never really ready for a commitment. And Mark," she said referring to Rory's boyfriend after Logan. "He was a nice guy, but you guys did not want the same things at all."

"Yeah. I guess after all that I deserve to have my love life line up, huh?"

"You really do Rory. Not to freak you out or anything, but if you guys were to stay together for awhile, it might be a god thing."

"Well don't go and jinx it! So you really like him?"

"Yeah, don't you?"

The two giggled and continued on with their gossip. Rory inquired about Lane's husband, Stan, who was the manager of their band. Zach and Lane had decided to call it off shortly after Rory's sophomore year of college because of the tension their dating had caused in the band. Lane and Stan had been married for about a year, and were happy in their life together.

"Last week, he took me too this restaurant in Hartford, and then we went on a carriage ride through the park."

"Aw. I'm so happy for you guys."

"Yeah. So what about Finn, has he dazzled with any romantic escapades?"

"Well, we have this thing where we'll have a movie night at his house every week. So lately, we'll have a date and he'll recreate a scene from a movie."

"Aw! Like what?"

"Well it's not really even 'aw' because he likes to pick weird scenes form the movies. Like last week, I was leaving his house, and he told me to wait when I was near the door. Then he went into the kitchen and came out with a pot apologizing that he didn't have any clean Tupperware. So he put two meatballs into my hands, and told be to take a bite."

Lane burst out in laughter. "That's almost better than if he had done a romantic part from the Wedding Singer. What other movies has he done?"

"Last week he made me dance with him to the song from Dirty Dancing, and once he also had a fan blowing outside the front door so he grabbed my hand and pulled me back and kissed me like in The Quiet Man."

"I love that part! Especially when it was in ET."

"Me too!"

They continued talking until Lorelai came up to them at 7:30 to tell them the food was ready. Lane went to find Stan while Rory went over to where Finn was already waiting in line for the buffet.

"Way to snag a good spot in the line, Finn."

"I try."

"I saw you playing football. You could give, you know, some famous football player a run for his money."

"Thanks for the attempted compliment." They were now at the table, and Rory grabbed two plates.

"You eating for two there?"

"I'm making a plate for Ernest."

"Already taken care of," he said nodding to where the kids were sitting. "I convinced Luke to just let them get their food early."

"My hero!"

They ate and hung around outside, save the break they took to put the kids to bed, for awhile until it became suddenly apparent that it was 11:00 at night, and that both of them had gotten up at 6 that morning. They bid goodnight to the party, and went inside.

As they ascended the stairs, it became when Rory realized that someone's hands, other than her own, were on her ass.

"Hey, hey! No patsy fingers, if you please!"

"Oh, come on Rory, don't be such a spoil sport."

"I'm not being a spoil sport. I'm just wondering where the exhaustion you claimed to be suffering from a second ago disappeared to."

"I'll admit it. I was all a farce to get you up here."

"You heard what my mom said. No monkey business."

"Sweet, naïve little Rory. What she said was, she didn't want to _hear _anything. She never said nothing could happen."

"Well when you put it that way…" she giggled as he picked her up and walked through the open doorway.

AN: Hope the anecdote about Finn and movie scenes wasn't too corny. I also apologize if the scenes involving kids are really cheesy. It's hard to write them, so I try to avoid it. So assume there is other interaction happening with the kids in the story, I just don't feel confident writing it, and frankly I think it wouldn't be that interesting to read a ton of stuff with kids. You're getting the need to know stuff.

On another note, the line "No patsy fingers, if you please" comes from The Quiet Man. Great movie. Go rent it. It's got Irish people!


	13. Thurday Night My Stockings Needed Mendin...

Chapter Thirteen: Thursday Night My Stockings Needed Mending

AN: Much to Say. Sorry about the lack of updates, but school and finals are over. So, did anyone else think the season finale was really dumb? Come one Rory! 'Aww, poor me. I'm gonna drop out of the Ivy League college that my grandparents are paying for.' Boo hoo. I swear, over the last two seasons, I've just stopped liking Rory. Oh well. I guess I should start calling this thing AU, because Rory's an idiot.

Okay, so enjoy this chapter. Happy reading.

The next morning, Finn and Rory awoke in the mess of blankets they had created the night before.

"I can't believe you convinced me to do thatin my mother's house!"

"Convinced? You were a more than willing participant, or don't you remember moaning my name. And by the way, good job with the Lorelai not hearing us thing, NOT!"

"She didn't hear us, my mom sleeps like a log, Luke on the other hand…EW! Luke heard us having sex! He did! He's the lightest sleeper ever. He wakes up when mom shifts half an inch in bed. My mom hearing us is one thing, but _Luke_?"

"Rory, calm down. He didn't hear us. I made sure your volume didn't get _too _out of control. Although I can't blame you. That was some of my best work."

"Look at the ego on you. I should let you know that if Luke did hear us, you two will have an extremely awkward relationship for at least the rest of the weekend, and there could be tension for the remainder of your relationship with him."

"Why wouldn't there be any tension with you and Luke?"

"Because Luke thinks I'm perfect. In his eyes, I can commit no wrong. When Jess and I told him we were pregnant, he attacked Jess verbally and physically for being so irresponsible, then he gave me cake!"

"He didn't hear us anyway. We were very quiet. Plus, they probably weren't even in bed yet."

"Maybe not for the first time, but the second time… I'm not worried anyway though, because like I said. You'll take all the blame."

"Yeah, for your inability to repress the urge to verbally express the pleasure I'm causing you."

"Can you blame me?" She said somewhat seductively. "Wouldn't you have a hard time containing it if you had a sexy Australian man making love to you."

"_If_ I had? I do. His name's Steve. Haven't I mentioned him before?"

"Okay, I'm taking myself away from this madness," she said getting out of bed. "I'm taking a shower."

"Can I join you?"

The sound of a multiple sets of little feet running in the hallway outside the door and then a banging on the door answered his question for him.

"I'm guessing no, then."

That afternoon, Finn and Rory sat on the back porch watching their respective children playing with Luke and Lorelai's kids on the swing set. Finn remembered the dinner they were to attend tonight, and decided that now would be as good a time as any to break the news about Logan to Rory.

"So where did you say we were going with Colin and Steph tonight?"

"I didn't. It's this great restaurant in Hartford that Lane told me about."

"Clothes?"

"Dressy casual. That green and blue striped shirt would be good. And those dark brown dress pants. Oh! And those brown Steve Maddens we got last week."

"How do you know I packed all that?"

"I looked in your drawers."

"Geez, I gave Colin a hard time about his wife dressing him, and now you're doing it to me."

"Well I can't have my man looking trashy."

"Have you ever known me to look trashy?"

"Only when you were actually trashed," she laughed at her dumb joke.

"Well those days are over, and gone with them are any times when I would ever look less than worthy of gracing the cover of GQ." He suddenly remembered the reason he brought the dinner up. "So guess who I talked to the other day?"

"Who?"

"You're not even gonna fake guess?" He looked disappointed. "You have to pretend like you're interested."

"Fine, was it Big Bird?"

"No, but good try. It was Logan."

"Don't you guys talk all the time? I mean, Stephanie says you and Colin talk at least once a week."

"Colin and I do talk once a week. Logan on the other hand…"

"What's going on between you two?"

"Nothing, I was just sort of, you know, avoiding him since we started dating."

"You've avoided one of your best friends for the last month? How does he not think you're dead?"

"I wrote a few emails. I just didn't know how he would react to our relationship."

"Finn, that was lifetimes ago. I'm sure he won't care that you're dating."

"You might be right, but it's more likely that he will completely flip out about it."

"Well," she said, rationalizing. "You'll never know until you tell him, so go give him a call."

"Well…that's the other thing." He paused. "After tonight, Logan will know about us whether I call him or not."

"And why is that?"

"I sort of invited him to dinner tonight…"

"WHAT?"

"I don't know how it happened. It was like I blinked, and all of the sudden he was coming to dinner with us."

"How does that happen?"

"We figured out that we'd both be in Hartford this weekend, and then I mentioned that I was meeting Colin for dinner, and he immediately agreed to the assumed invite."

"And he doesn't know that I'm going to be there?"

"I didn't have time to tell him and then he had to get off the phone."

Rory took a deep breath to calm herself from a potential anxiety attack. "It's fine. We'll live through this."

"Or die trying."

That night, Rory drove Finn's car to the front of the restaurant where the valet took the keys to park it.

"Well," began Finn as he buttoned his sports coat before offering Rory his hand. "You ready?"

"Not in the least bit."

"Me either. But alas..."

"Yeah, yeah. Point me to the bar," she remarked as they entered the building.

"Well at least you get alcohol. I have to go through this sober."

"A fitting punishment for the one who got us into this mess."

"Well if I remember correctly you were the one who set this whole thing …"

He was interrupted by her exclamation, "Look! There's Colin and Stephanie. That means Logan's not here yet."

"Yet," he whispered into her ear from behind as they made their way to wear Colin and Stephanie waited at the bar. They all exchanged hugs in greeting when the Maitre D informed that the table was ready. Rory was about to inform him that they were still waiting for the fifth member of their party when Stephanie told her about Logan calling to inform them that he would be late.

Seated at the table, they ordered drinks with Stephanie and Finn opting for non alcoholic beverages, and Rory and Colin ordering wine.

"Colin, I can't believe you're drinking wine in front of your pregnant wife," Rory remarked to him.

"Why? You're drinking wine in front of your sober boyfriend. Besides, my drinking won't hurt the baby, while her drinking would."

Rory disregarded him and turned to Stephanie. "You need to crack the whip on him. When I was pregnant I wouldn't let Jess drink at all, including coffee. If I had to abstain, then so did he."

Stephanie laughed at her friend and the two turned back to their significant others' conversation about the stock market.

"I mean it Finn, even though the market is in a stage of prosperity right now, we're over due for a recession."

"That's where I think you're wrong, mate. Financial experts are predicting a continued rise in stock prices."

Stephanie and Rory listened for a minute before Stephanie said to her friend, "Would it be too incredibly girly if I excused myself from this manly stock talk and went to the bathroom?"

Rory answered back, "Hey, you're pregnant. Blame it on the baby, I'll even piggyback on your excuse and join you."

"Well of course. Women always go to the restroom in twos."

"Right you are Steph." The ladies excused them selves and walked towards the back of the restaurant.

"Thank God we finally scared them away with financial talk. So how are you holding up?" Colin asked Finn.

"About as well as anyone who's about to die."

"He would never kill you. At the very most, he'll just stop being friends with you and you two would only see each other at awkward Yale alumni events. And maybe you'd still get the Christmas car his secretary sends out for him every year."

"Thanks Colin, that helped so much," he said sarcastically.

"You think it'd be bad for you. I'd be the go-between guy. I'd have to inform each of you of the new developments in each others lives, not to mention the way Steph and I would have to decide which one of you to invite to our parties."

"Ooh! Pick me! I'm very well behaved in front of company!"

"That will be taken into consideration Finn. I can promise you that."

Before they had anytime to go further into the subject, they were interrupted by a voice behind them.

"I hope you two aren't repeating the argument about you got to be best man at your wedding Colin."

"Logan!" Exclaimed Colin as he and Finn rose to greet their old friend. They exchanged hugs before again sitting down.

"Where's Stephanie?" He asked gesturing towards the empty chair beside Colin. "And don't tell me you actually have a girlfriend now Finn." He said with regards to the other empty chair beside Finn.

"Well yes, actually…"

"No kidding. I guess a lot changes when you don't talk to someone for a month."

"About that, Logan. I'm really sorry for avoiding you, but things were kind of complicated in my life."

"Complicated as in how Finn?"

"Well you know," he began when he spotted Rory and Stephanie returning to their table. "Logan, there was a reason I didn't respond to any of your messages for the past month or so."

"I think we've established that Finn. I'm just trying to figure out what the reason was," he paused when he noticed the presence of Stephanie now at the table. He, along with Finn and Colin stood as proper society gentleman should when a lady enters. He walked around the table to greet her. "You look great Steph. I mean it. If all women looked that good pregnant, it'd be the new 'in' thing."

"It's good to see you Logan," she said while eying Rory who had gotten held up waiting for a waiter to pass, and was just arriving at the table.

"Logan," began Finn to get his friend's attention. "You remember Rory Gilmore."

"What? Why is Rory here?" He asked, but as he saw Rory grasp Finn's hand, it became painfully clear.

"Rory and I have been dating for the past month or so. This was the reason I didn't want to call you. I was afraid of how you'd react."

"Well," he started slowly. He couldn't, and didn't want to comprehend the situation. "It looks like I'm the fifth wheel," he said lamely.

They were all seated at the table again when Finn began to speak. "Look Logan. I'm really sorry for not telling you. I just didn't want to ruin anything between us. And Rory and mine's relationship was still new. I didn't want to have to face the reality yet. Please don't be mad at me."

Logan thought for a second. He was a little shocked to Rory Gilmore after all theses years, dating his best friend no less. But he couldn't really blame Finn for pursuing her. It had been almost a decade since she and him had dated, and who was he to try and still hold claim over her. He couldn't help but feel a little pain though. He had always secretly thought of Rory as 'the one that got away'. But their relationship was never meant to work and he couldn't fault Finn for that. He replied to Finn's earlier plea, "I'm not mad."

Finn looked so happy he could've burst. He jumped up from his chair and came around the table to envelope Logan into a tight hug. "You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that."

But feeling the weight of Finn's words, and the tight embrace he was currently giving Logan, he could completely comprehend how much this meant to Finn. "You can let go now, man."

"Oh, right. Sorry, I must've forgotten myself."

"That seems to happen a lot, doesn't it?" Chimed in Colin.

The group broke into fluid conversation after the situation was resolved. When the live band began to play another song, Finn extended his hand to Rory, who accepted the unspoken invitation, and the two quickly moved to the sparsely populated dance floor.

"So how do you think it went?" Finn was eager to hear Rory's opinion.

"I think it went well. He didn't even seem that mad. And there was only minimal tension at the table.

"I know. This is almost to good to be true. I mean, the only thing better that could've happened would've been if he'd been overjoyed to hear about it."

Back at the table, Colin, Stephanie, and Logan were sharing a similar conversation.

"I can't believe you took that so well Logan. Almost as if you were a, dare I say it, adult," joked Colin.

"Well, I thought about it, and even though I did at one time have been very hung up on Rory, that was years ago. We've both moved on, obviously," he gestured to the dance floor where Finn was kissing Rory's neck as she laughed at something he had just said. "Besides, Finn can offer Rory what she wants. Settling down, a house, a kid."

Stephanie snorted at the last part of his sentence.

"What's so funny?" He didn't like being the butt of this joke.

"Rory doesn't need Finn's offering of a kid. She has one of her own."

Logan almost choked on his scotch. "I beg your pardon?"

"Rory," Stephanie began slowly, as if talking to a two year old. "Has a son."

He stood from the table and pushed in his chair. "I think it's about time I cut in."

He walked to where the couple stood on the floor, tapped Finn on the shoulder, and said with perfect Cotillion ease, "May I?"

Finn glanced at Rory, before offering her hand to Logan. "Of course."

Rory and Logan quickly assumed a dancing position, with a safe, comfortable distance between them.

Logan wasted no time in jumping right in. "So I hear you have a kid."

"Yes I do."

"No one ever told me you got married."

"Now you and I both know that one does not have to be married to have a child."

"So who's the father, then?" Suddenly his face went white as a thought over came him. "He's not mine, is he?"

"God no. If he was yours, I'd have had you paying child support though the nose just to get back at you for the birthing pains. But no, he's not yours. We were always careful, unlike Jess and I…"

"Jess? Do I know him?"

"I may have mentioned him in passing at some point. He was an old high school boyfriend. We met up again after I graduated and moved to New York. Tried to rekindle our relationship, but there was nothing left. We decided to just be friends, but not before one night of unprotected sex."

"The condom broke?"

"I wish. We decided we couldn't wait for Jess to run out and buy some. We were out."

"You horn ball."

"Like I was saying," she ignored his earlier comment. "Nine months latter, I squeezed that eight-pounder out."

"Great visual. But really Ror. You look good. You do not look like someone who's had a baby in the very least."

"You know, that's exactly what Finn said when he found out."

"He and I have that in common."

"What, the inability to tell when a woman is a mother?"

"No. The desire to compliment beautiful women."

She blushed slightly as the song ended. She suggested they move back to the table, and he agreed. Just as the two sat down, their food arrived and they began to eat. The topic of conversation quickly focused on the group member's respective children. Stephanie told stories of the antics of their youngest boy who had thought his name was 'you' for two months because that was what everyone referred to him as. Rory mentioned how Ernest had come back from New York with an accent he picked up from the other kids in the building. Finn talked about Charlie's new love of Finn's black silk boxers, and how they were always missing. Logan just sat and listed to the stories of their children with a smile. Soon, dinner was over, and Finn insisted it was his turn to pay, even Colin distinctly remembered otherwise until Stephanie jabbed him with her elbow.

As the group stood outside, waiting for their cars to be brought around, Stepahine stood with Finn and Rory, talking about her desire for her pregnancy to be over, while Logan stood behind them with Colin.

"After listening to you guys talk tonight," began Logan. "I've decided something."

"And what would that be?"

"I think I want this," he said gesturing towards Stephanie.

"You want Stephanie? Please, it'd be my pleasure to have you take a pregnant woman off my hands."

"No, I mean, what you guys have."

"Marital problems?"

"I think I want to find a girl and settle down."

"You. Want to settle down? Are you okay?"

"I know I always said I was planning on becoming an eccentric old man who dates women half his age, but I don't know. Just, listening to you guys talk about your kids, seeing Rory and Finn together…"

"So that's what this is about."

"It's not. I just realized that I want that with someone. I want to tell corny stories about my kids."

"My stories are not corny!"

"Anyway. Just, can you not tell Stephanie about this?"

"Oh, don't worry. Even I wouldn't wish the wrath of her match-making anyone."

Sorry if that ending was too corny. I'm a pretty corny person, so... Anyway, I hope you like how I handled the Logan situtaion. Don't worry, I wasn't gonna have him still be madly in love after 10 years. But yeah, so I love feedback, especially in the summer since I'm on the computer 60 times a day, so give me some reviews to read. Or don't, you know.


	14. See How They Run!

AN: I'm back baby! That's right! I only waited this long to update to, you know, keep you on your toes. It had absolutely nothing to do with my neglect for this story. Its not my best, but what ever is? Anyway, enjoy the most recent installment. Oh! And go read my first One shot (unless you don't like gay people).

Chapter Fourteen: See How They Run!

The rest of the Stars Hallow weekend went off with out a hitch, not including the antics of Finn when he jumped in and tried to join the 'Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer' Barbershop quartet. Rory and Finn returned to Boston on Sunday, with their respective kids in tow, who had spent the weekend doing everything together and had become great friends despite the few years of an age difference.

"So," Finn began halfway into the mostly silent ride home. "I think that went well."

"I'd have to agree with you on that one." She turned in the front seat to look back on the two boys in the backseat leaned against each other as they slept.

Over the next months, Finn and Rory spent almost all of their free time together. Their kids developed a brotherly bond, much to the happiness of Rory and Finn. Finn began sleeping over at Rory's house almost all of the time he didn't have Charlie. On the weeks he did, however, the sleepovers were less frequent, and made both Rory and Finn long for their time together. It wasn't until months later that Lorelai finally burst into their protective little bubble with reality when she asked Rory to come home for Thanksgiving.

"Hello?"

"Hello," Lorelai said. "This is Mrs. Magilicutty next door. I was just wondering what was going on with you and that saucy Australian."

"Mom…"

"I mean, I see him all the time in the morning getting the paper, or taking the trash out, without a shirt on mind you."

"Mom..."

"To be completely honest, if I didn't know any better then I'd say that he was spending the night. Which couldn't be the case, because unless you haven't told me, you're still unwed?"

"Okay mom. I got it."

"Sorry kid, just messing with you. What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"Well okay then. I guess now would be as good a time to ask you as any then."

"Shoot."

"Got any plans for Thanksgiving?"

"I was going to come home. Why, am I not invited?"

"No, no, no. I was just making sure you were coming. What about Finn and Charlie?"

"Are you inviting them too?"

"Do you want to?"

"Charlie's with Cindy for the holiday."

"Well then you should definitely invite Finn. You guys can stay at the house. It'll be fun!"

"Mom, you really don't need to sell me on this. I already said I was coming."

"Yeah, but I want to make sure Finn comes."

"Why?" Rory was interested as to why her mother wanted her boyfriend there.

"I may have neglected to tell you one little thing."

"Which would be…"

Lorelai mumbled something inaudible into the phone.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your grandparents are coming."

"So why does Finn need to come?"

"Well, I sort of, already told my mom he was coming."

"Mom!"

"What was I supposed to do? You know how she gets. That woman's like a pressure cooker."

"What'd she say?"

"She said, 'I'm just dying to meet Rory's new boyfriend.'"

"So what did you say?"

"I said, 'Great, cause he's coming to Thanksgiving dinner.'"

"Mom! What if he has other plans now?"

"He won't. And if he does, you can tell him that failure to show up will force me to force Luke to recount all of the sounds he heard coming from your bedroom the last time you visited."

"He told you!"

"Yes and as your mother, I have to say, I'm ashamed. Of the record, I'd like to be the first to congratulate you. Even I've never had sex in my parents' house with the knowledge that they were home, not to mention two doors down."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Okay, so. Are you gonna tell Finn that he's coming."

"I'm going to _ask _if he'll come."

"And then?"

"And then if he says no, then I'll have to force him to comply."

"You're truly your mother's daughter. Call me later."

"Okay, bye mom. Love you."

"Back at ya kid."

"Finny," Rory began later that night after she and Earnest had eaten dinner at his house. "How much do you love me?"

"Not much. You look kind of funny when we have sex."

"Shh! The kids are right in the other room!"

"They can't here us. Especially if we go into my room and shut the door…"

"Focus!"

"Right-o. What did you need darling?"

"Do you have plans for Thanksgiving yet?"

"Well Jack and Cindy said I was welcome to join them, but nothing's concrete."

"So you'll come to Stars Hallow with me?"

"I guess so. Why are you freaking out so much? I've already met everyone haven't I?"

"Everyone but my grandparents, who my mother conveniently told that you were coming to dinner and who are now expecting to see you at dinner."

"Rory, I've met your grandparents before. Remember…? Me. Trust fund brat? Full fledged member of Hartford High Society for five whole years. I used to see them all the time."

"Right, you've met them, but you haven't _met_ them. They've insisted on meeting every one of my boyfriends formerly irregardless of whether or not they've already met."

"So I have to re-meet them?"

"Didn't I just say that?"

"Just clarifying Schnuck'ems."

"And make sure you don't call me any weird pet names in front of my grandparents like you seem to have a habit of doing."

"Oh come on! It was one time! How was I to know your boss was gonna walk up behind us?"

"It was at my work!"

"Exactly! They shouldn't just barge into your private office without knocking."

"It was in the hallway Finn."

"Well," his face contorted slightly as he looked for another angle for his pointless argument. "Fine then."

"So it's agreed. No pet names in front of the grandparents."

"Uh, uh, uh! Not so fast!"

"What?"

"You said no weird pet names."

"Finny, all of your pet names are weird."

"I beg your pardon!" He said indignantly. "I'll have you know that it is perfectly normal to have pet names! It's the sign of a healthy relationship."

"I'm not arguing. Just saying that it is definitely not the right way to start out with my grandparents."

"I suppose I can refrain for one night then. Happy?"

"Ecstatic."

"Well that's good snuggles. I guess since I can't use my pet names that night, I'll just have to make up for it from now until then, sound good boo?"

'My mom owes me so big for this.' Rory thought to herself at the notion of hearing an excess of the sickeningly sweet pet names for the next week.

Before either of them knew it, the week had flown by and it was the following Wednesday on which they were to drive to Stars Hallow. They were again taking Finn's SUV to accommodate the huge amount of stuff Rory insisted on taking. Finn arrived at Rory's house early to speed up the process of what he knew would be frantic last minute packing. He let himself in the front door with his key, and walked into the family room where Earnest was sitting in front of the TV watching Sesame Street.

"Where's your mom bud?"

"Upstairs."

"Packing frantically?"

"Yup."

"Alright. I'm gonna go try and speed up the process. Hopefully I'll be back in a few minutes."

Earnest glanced up from the TV skeptically.

"I said hopefully."

He climbed the stairs and called out hesitantly, "Rory?" When she didn't answer he went into her bedroom which looked as if it had been torn apart.

"Rory?" He said again.

"Hmph," came the muffled reply which appeared to becoming out of a stack of clothes.

Finn chuckled to himself as he walked over and removed a pair of jeans from the top of the stack to reveal Rory's face.

"Hi," she said sheepishly.

"Hi," he replied with a smirk. He began to remove the rest of the clothes. "How did this happen?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Aw, sweetie, was the closet bullying you again?"

"Haha, you're such a comedian."

"Alright, alright. I'll stop." He offered her a hand to stand up from the bed. "Are you packed?"

She glanced around the room to check for anything else she could possibly need. Upon finding nothing, she gave up. "I guess so."

"Alright! So where are the bags?"

"There." She pointed to the door, where one large duffel bag sat.

"Where's the rest of it?"

"That's all."

"You're joking," he said with a look that was completely disbelieving.

"What? I can pack light." He again repeated the look. "I can!"

"Alright. I believe you! Let's get going then, shall we?" He picked up the duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder.

He was halfway down the stairs when Rory stopped him. "Wait! Can you help me with Earnest's stuff too?"

"Oh. Alright then." He walked back up the stairs and into Earnest's room. Stacked neatly by the door was a complete set of luggage. "Rory!"

"What?"

"What is all this?"

"I told Earnest to try and slim it down, but hey. You can't really blame him. He's not nearly as experienced as I am at packing light."

"I can't believe you're trying to blame this on him."

"Blame? Blame what? He just doesn't know what to take and what to leave."

Finn unzipped for the nearest bag and pulled out a red dress. "And this can be attributed towards Earnest's habit of cross dressing…?"

"I don't judge!" Rory said as she grabbed the dress from Finn and put it back into the suit case. She grabbed a couple of bags. "Think you can handle the rest?"

"As long as I didn't get _Earnest's_ shoes and makeup bags, I think I'll be okay." He leaned over and grabbed the handles of the bags and cringed. "Oh thank God. I only got the bags of bricks!

When the car was packed, and Earnest was situated in the car, Finn prepared to get in and leave for Stars Hallow.

"What are you doing? We haven't gotten snacks yet." She turned back towards the house and Finn thought he heard her mumble the word 'amateur' under her breath.

"Stop right there Missy! I'll have you know that this car is fully stocked with every road trip amenity you could ever think of."

"Ah hah! You're not nearly the fool I thought you were."

"Um, thanks. But as I was saying, climb on in and we can get this show on the road."

They both got into the car and into comfortable positions as Finn started the engine and pulled away from the curb.

"So do you really have everything?"

"That I could possibly think of, yes."

"Like what?"

"Try me."

"Pop tarts?"

"Of course!"

"Chips?"

"Every variety they had in the store."

"Alright. I'll give you 'props' for the food preparation. I'm not even going to ask if you got coffee because you're smarter than that. What about means of entertainment?"

"One step ahead of you," he said as he pointed to Ernest in the backseat who was watching a movie on a potable DVD player and headphones.

"Pretty snazzy. What about entertainment for me?"

"I was just hoping you'd ask," he said as he reached into the backseat and pulled out a magazine and handed it to Rory.

"Cosmo? How'd you know I like reading Cosmo on road trips?"

"How could I not after you complained for half the trip back last time that you left your Cosmo at your mom's house?"

"I take back the part about you only being a partial fool. You're not a fool at all!"

"Can I at least get a little sugar then?" He said and pointed to his cheek.

She giggled while she leaned over and kissed him. "Oh and Finn?" She said into his ear before she drew away from his face.

"What's that kitten?"

"You cannot pull off the expression 'give me some sugar'. You're just too…Australian."

AN: Dumb ending place, but if I went into the arrival at Stars Hallow, I'd feel like I need to include Thanksgiving dinner, which would not only be an incredibly long chapter, but it'd take a really long time to write. I want to be optimistic, but I probably won't update this story for a while, what with my abnormal amount of summer homework which I have completely neglected. I'll try though. Please review if you want to tell me what you think about this chapter.


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